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Dateline: Cincinnati
Dane Myers, who entered the game as a defensive replacement in the ninth inning, singled home "ghost runner" TJ Friedl in the 11th inning off Justin Slaten to give his new team a 6-5 win.
"I think under the circumstances, everybody is pretty jazzed up it was an exciting game. It was a good at bat. We got him here to face left handers and to be shoved into a situation like that," Terry Francona said. "I didn't care how it happened."
It was the third time in his three-year, 173 game career that he's had a walk off hit.
"I don't think I could think of a better way to start with a new team unless I hit a walk off homer," Myers said. "I feel like I have full confidence from the team. It is easy to feel confident myself. He is a pretty good pitcher. I think it was a good pitch in a good location. I just tried to put the ball in play and put a good swing on it,"
Connor Phillips the Reds' seventh pitcher of the game, faced five batters and got two scoreless innings to earn his first win of the season.
"In an extra inning game, he got a lot of swing and miss," Francona said. "We also got a line drive to second base. That was a pea. It could have scored a run. He got two innings because he was so economical in that first inning to be able to go two innings."
"There was a lot of energy and stuff going on," Phillips said. "Whenever I have confidence in my stuff and the ball is coming out like it was today. I think I did it last year when I went out for the 11th. I think that's why our one pluses in spring training are important."
Sal Stewart and Elly De La Cruz hit their first home runs of the season as the Reds maintained a lead throughout the game until two outs in the ninth.
Sonny Gray, in his first start for the Red Sox since being traded for minor leaguers Brandon Clarke and Richard Fitts, gave up a leadoff single to TJ Friedl and walked Matt McLain to start the game. Stewart singled Friedl home and sent McLain to third. Eugenio Suarez hit into a fielders choice on a tapper back to Gray on the mound, who missed applying a tag to McLain as he scored. The Reds jumped to a 3-0 lead with an unearned run on the second inning. Ke'Bryan Hayes reached base on an error by shortstop Trevor Story. McLain's doubled sent Hayes home.
Brady Singer started for the Reds and pitched two scoreless innings. Story attonned for his error with his first home run, a solo blast in the third.
Sal Stewart reached Gray with his first home run in the bottom of the inning.
The Red Sox closed the gap with two runs in the fourth after two outs. Three straight singles by Carlos Narvaez, Ceddane Rafaela and Roman Anthony scored one run. Singer contributed a wild pitch to cut the Reds' margin to one run.
Elly De La Cruz hit a solo home run against Greg Weissert to the lead back to 5-3.
Singer finished his first outing of the season with four innings, allowing three runs on five hits and two walks. He hit a batter and struck out five.
Sam Moll and Pierce Johnson pieced together an inning and two thirds of scoreless baseball. The Reds Sox scored another two-out run against Graham Ashcraft. Jarren Duran walked with one out. He moved up on a wild pitch and scored when right fielder, Will Benson, couldn't make a shoe-string catch on Wilyer Abreu's double.
Boston took a pair of walks from Tony Santillan, who struck out three. Emilio Pagan came in to strike out Story on a checked swing. Home plate umpire CB Bucknor ejected Red Sox manager Alex Cora.
Pagan blew his first save. He retired three straight batters but Abreu tied the game with a home run into the Boston bullpen in right field.
"I'm not big on looking back because I don't think it helps," Pagan said. "I think we picked up where we left off last year. To Abreu I just left a splitter up. I think I threw 21 pitches or 22. I think I threw the ball pretty well, I just left one pitch up. Everyone knows that if you get it in the air to right here, anything can happen. When he first hit it I thought it was a little to high but then when I saw Benson look at it I knew it was gone. It was unfortunate but if I throw the ball like that all year long, I like my chances."
Aroldis Chapman entered the game to try to send the game to extra innings. He finished the ninth striking out pinch hitter Noelvi Marte.
Connor Phillips stranded the ghost runner, Caleb Durbin in the 10th inning. Phillips struck out Roman Anthony with a ghost runner at second. Story lined into a double play to McLain to end the inning. Phillips faced five batters and got credit for two innings.
"It was right at my face," McLain said. "I saw him kind of break towards third. I knew he was out. I just stepped on the base."
Greg Whitlock struck out Friedl to send the game to the 11th inning.
ABS Note
Bucknor's ball-strike calls were challenged eight times and overturned six times. Boston was right on one our of three and ran out of challenges in the second inning. The Reds batters challenged five times and strike calls were overturned all five times, including two in the same at bats by Benson and Suarez.
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