Austin Hays belted a go-ahead three-run homer and drove in four in his Cincinnati debut to help rally the reinforced Reds past the visiting Seattle Mariners, 8-4, on a chilly Tuesday night.
Hays was set to start the season as Cincinnati’s cleanup hitter, but sustained a calf injury three days before the season opener and spent 16 games on the injured list. He went 2-for-4 for the Reds, who won their fourth straight and sixth in seven games to move over .500 for the first time this season.
Hays became the third Cincinnati hitter to record at least four RBIs in his Reds debut since RBIs became an official statistic in 1920 — joining Ryan Lavarnway (six in 2019) and Mike Moustakas (four in 2020).
Hays’ three-run blow in the fifth came off Seattle starter and former Cincinnati ace Luis Castillo (1-2), who was staked to leads of 2-0 and 4-2 but couldn’t hold them. The Reds got to Castillo for six runs on seven hits in just 4 1/3 innings. Castillo was Cincinnati’s only All-Star back in 2022 when the team — in the middle of a 100-loss season — swapped him to Seattle just before the trade deadline.
Cincinnati second baseman Matt McLain walked three times and scored twice in his return from a 10-day stint on the injured list while 2023 All-Star closer Alexis Diaz walked two and got two outs in the sixth in his return from a hamstring injury.
Graham Ashcraft walked Julio Rodriguez to load the bases in the sixth, then recorded the final out on a nice defensive play by first baseman Christian Encarnacion-Strand. He tacked on a scoreless seventh. Scott Barlow (1-0) recorded the final out of the fifth for the win.
Tony Santillan pitched a perfect eighth before Emilio Pagan came on to pitch a scoreless ninth.
Dylan Moore drilled a pair of home runs and drove in four for the Mariners, who had their four-game win streak snapped.
The Mariners jumped out to a 1-0 lead on the second pitch of the game from Cincinnati starter Nick Lodolo. The left-hander left a fastball over the middle of the plate and Moore crushed it 429 feet to the left of the batter’s eye in straightaway center for his first career leadoff home run. Lodolo allowed four runs on six hits over 4 2/3 innings, watching his ERA rise from 0.96 to 2.31.
Another Seattle batter achieved a career first in the second when 24-year-old third baseman Ben Williamson, making his Major League debut, singled into the hole between shortstop and third in his first plate appearance. Williamson came around to score on Moore’s single to left to make it a 2-0 game.
