REDS 6, SOX 5
‘Pito’ power
Jose Abreu hit his third and fourth home runs of the spring, both opposite-field shots to right, in his second and third at-bats against the Reds on Tuesday in Goodyear, Arizona.
Abreu’s first homer of the night, which came against right-hander Lucas Sims in the third inning, barely cleared the yellow line on the right-field wall.
Reds right fielder Yasiel Puig didn’t move on Abreu’s second homer, which came against former Sox left-hander Zach Duke in the fifth and carried much farther.
The blasts were the 14th and 15th hits of the spring for Abreu, who is tied for the Sox’ lead in that category with Leury Garcia, who singled and doubled in three at-bats.
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Ninth inning starts with runner on second
Extra innings in the minor leagues started with a runner on second base last season, and this speed-up rule was used as an experiment in the ninth.
Runner Alfredo Gonzalez came around to score on an error to give the Sox the lead in the top of the inning, but the Reds loaded the bases against right-hander Dylan Covey in the bottom half. They scored the tying run when Covey hit Stuart Fairchild with a pitch and the winning run when Covey uncorked a wild pitch.
Lopez’s fourth start
Right-hander Reynaldo Lopez pitched 6 1/3 innings, getting nicked by Puig’s two-run single with two outs in the fifth and getting charged with a run after allowing a one-out double to Nick Senzel in the seventh. Lopez allowed three runs and six hits, walked three and struck out two.
On deck
Diamondbacks at Sox, Glendale, 3:05 p.m. Wednesday, NBCSCH, Luke Weaver vs. Ervin Santana, who will make his first Cactus League appearance.
