Texas @ Cincinnati preview

Texas at Cincinnati

Last Meeting ( Apr 1, 2025 ) Texas 1, Cincinnati 0

The Texas Rangers and the Cincinnati Reds split the first two games of their series, each prevailing in a vastly different way.

Cincinnati claimed the opener with 14 hits in a 14-3 win on Monday before Texas bounced back with a 1-0 gem from their Opening-Day ace on Tuesday.

The clubs close out their three-game series with a Wednesday matinee rubber game in Cincinnati.

One night after the Rangers and Reds combined for 17 runs and the "torpedo" bats were dominating the headlines, the Rangers relied on the fifth career complete game from Nathan Eovaldi to even the series.

Wyatt Langford homered in the first inning, but the Rangers' bat remained mostly silent the rest of the game. Texas has scored just 17 runs in six games, putting up four runs or fewer in all six.

The Rangers aren't worried about bats at this point, but rather getting their mechanics in a good place.

Texas sluggers Corey Seager and Marcus Semien indicated before the Tuesday game that they would be sticking with traditional bats.

"I'm more focused on putting myself in the right spot to do what I need to do," Seager said. "There are probably times when it would help, but it's hard to know exactly when those times are."

Semien added, "I want the Marcus Semien bat to start hitting first. For me, it's kind of a comfort thing. I'm comfortable with certain things. I've pretty much used the same two models for the last five years."

The Reds will look to break even on their first homestand after winning just two of the first five. One bright spot has been the starting pitching, as every starter has managed to pitch into at least five innings. Nick Lodolo, Nick Martinez, Brady Singer and the Tuesday starter, Carson Spiers, all worked at least six innings.

"Rising tides raise all boats," Spiers said after his tough-luck loss. "We like to compete against one another. We all like to stack another good outing on top of that, put a better outing on top of that. Brady threw a gem (Monday). My goal was to one-up him."

Cincinnati right-hander Hunter Greene (0-0, 3.60 ERA) will make his second start of the season on Wednesday. In the season opener against San Francisco, he threw five innings of two-run ball, striking out eight. He was in line to pick up the win before Ian Gibaut gave up four runs in the ninth in a 6-4 Giants win.

In his only previous career start against Texas, Greene allowed just one hit over seven shutout innings and earned his first win of 2024 in Cincinnati's 8-4 win on April 27. That was the same game infielder Christian Encarnacion-Strand was hit on the right hand by a pitch from Michael Lorenzen, leading to surgery last July.

Encarnacion-Strand was hit on the same hand by a Gerson Garabito pitch on Monday night, but X-rays coming back negative. Reds manager Terry Francona said before the Tuesday game that Encarnacion-Strand will be able to return to the lineup on Wednesday.

The Rangers will give the ball Wednesday to right-hander Jack Leiter (1-0, 1.80), who has never faced the Reds. The 24-year-old earned his first big-league win in his seventh career start on Friday against the Boston Red Sox, allowing one run on five hits over five innings.

--Field Level Media