There was an uneasiness that colored the backdrop of the Cincinnati Reds series finale against the San Francisco Giants. After the Giants’ took the game, the uneasiness boiled over.
Having already won the series, the Reds missed an opportunity for their second series sweep of the month when the Giants won, 3-0, at Great American Ball Park on April 16. The Reds were one-hit on the day, as well as held scoreless over the final 14 innings of the series.
After the final pitch by Giants reliever Erik Miller to strikeout Sal Stewart, the two players appeared to jaw with one another, and then approached one another. That caused both dugouts and bullpens to empty, and for the teams to gather around the home plate.
The unplanned gathering seemed to be the climax of a buildup of events, which included prominent players on both teams being hit earlier in the game after some jawing that occurred the night before.
During the Reds’ April 15 victory, Cincinnati’s Spencer Steer appeared to shout at San Francisco pitcher J.T. Brubaker. The next day, Steer was hit by a pitch from Giants starter Landen Roupp. Steer didn’t disagree with the suggestions that he was hit intentionally.
“There was definitely a chance,” Steer said. “Yeah, the guy had pretty good command of his fastball today. Big miss like that, first at-bat, first pitch. You guys need to be the judge of that.”
Reds starter Chase Burns didn’t retaliate in the midst of a scoreless tie during his time in the game. He was in the midst of six shutout innings and just two hits and a walk on 87 pitches.
Later, and with Giants up 3-0 in the eighth inning, Reds reliever Connor Phillips hit San Francisco’s Willy Adames and was ejected even though no warnings had been issued.
“We tried to go in the first (pitch). Obviously, I missed. Tried to go in again and it hit him,” Phillips said. “No warnings. It is what it is… Maybe it’s just they’re trying to not let the game get out of hand. I don’t know?”
Then, Miller and Stewart exchanged words.
“I actually missed it because when (Stewart) struck out, I usually hold my head down and sulk back up the tunnel,” Reds manager Terry Francona said. “I was kind of on the late show.”
Asked about his exchange with Miller afterward, Stewart said the pitcher was looking and pointing at him.
“We won the series and things happen, you know?” Stewart said. “Tough game today but we won the series and we’re gonna go to Minnesota and play. We’re not gonna talk more about that. We leave it on the field.”
The bottom line for the day was Cincinnati lost. The club lived off home runs in winning the first two games against the Giants. After scoring exclusively via the long ball, the lack of homers and hits in general on April 16 prevented the Reds from the sweep.
The Giants took the lead against reliever Brock Burke in the seventh inning, although the three runs that were plated were unearned as Elly De La Cruz fumbled a routine grounder by Luis Arraez to begin the frame. Then, four hitters reached base with two out. Matt Chapman’s double allowed Arraez to score the go-ahead run and Jung Hoo Lee’s single scored Chapman. After a Heliot Ramos walk, Casey Schmitt singled off Connor Phillips for 3-0.
Roupp (3-1) got the win after his six innings of one-hit, two-walk baseball.
Cincinnati homered four times in its 8-3 victory against San Francisco April 15. The Reds also used two solo home runs in their 2-1 win April 14. Stewart hit three homers in the series, driving in seven runs. But in the series finale, Stewart went 0-for-4 and the Reds were held to their lone hit.
The Reds being shutout over the final 14 innings of the series was indicative that the team was still figuring itself out offensively. Defense and pitching helped propel Cincinnati to an 11-8 record to begin the year while hitting was inconsistent through the first 19 contests.
The Reds remained tied for first in the NL Central with the Pittsburgh Pirates, who lost to Washington April 16.
Next up | Reds travel to Minnesota, Tampa Bay
After splitting a second consecutive homestand with a 3-3 record, Cincinnati will look to continue its early road success against the Minnesota Twins and the Tampa Bay Rays. The Reds posted a 5-2 mark on their first road trip of 2026.
The Reds will first travel to Target Field in Minneapolis to face the Twins April 17-19. Starting pitchers Brandon Williamson (1-1, 5.28 ERA), Andrew Abbott (0-2, 5.85 ERA) and Brady Singer (1-1, 5.60 ERA) are scheduled to start against the Twins’ Joe Ryan (2-1, 3.80 ERA), Taj Bradley (3-0, 1.25 ERA) and Bailey Ober (2-0, 5.49).
The Twins enter the series following an April 16 off day and leading the American League Central division on an 11-8 record. Minnesota boasted the third-most runs scored in MLB (103), trailing only the Los Angeles Dodgers (105) and Atlanta Braves (106). Minnesota had won three consecutive series, taking two out of three games against the Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays. That was preceded by a four-game sweep of the Detroit Tigers.
Cincinnati will then travel to the renovated Tropicana Field to face the Rays. Rhett Lowder (2-1, 3.52) will be the Reds’ first starter while Tampa hasn’t named a starting pitcher for the April 20 game (6:40 p.m.). Tampa entered play April 16 with an AL East-best 10-6 record. They played the White Sox April 16.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Reds drop tense series finale to Giants. Here’s what happened
Reporting by Pat Brennan, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
