After waiting 120 days for the first game of the season, it took just under three hours and 133 pitches for the Cincinnati Reds to pick up their first win.
Sonny Gray dazzled over six innings and cruised the Reds to a comfortable 7-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers.
On the offensive side, newly-signed sluggers Mike Moustakas and Nick Castellanos slotted well into the fourth and fifth spots in the lineup. Each collected their first hits as a Red, with Moustakas going three-for-four with a home run and four RBI and Castellanos getting on base thrice.
The Reds took advantage of Tigers starter Matthew Boyd’s slow start in the first inning and scored their first run before they recorded their first out as Castellanos was hit by a pitch that scored Phil Ervin, who reached via a walk.
Joey Votto homered off Boyd in the bottom of the fifth inning and he went two-for-four, scoring twice. Shogo Akiyama made his Reds debut and became the first Japanese-born player to play for the Reds. As a pinch hitter in the bottom of the sixth, Akiyama singled up the middle and brought in Freddy Galvis to extend the lead to 5-1.
Sonny Gray struck out nine batters and walked just two, and the only run he allowed came on a home run to first baseman C.J. Cron. Lucas Sims, Nate Jones, and southpaw Brooks Raley relieved Gray and did not allow a hit in the final three innings.
Gray’s dominance on the mound on Friday resembled what he did throughout the 2019 season. Gray allowed just three hits, which made it 34 straight starts in which he allowed six hits or fewer to set a new MLB record.
Luis Castillo will start the second game of the weekend series at 5:10 p.m. Eastern on Saturday.
