The Oakland Athletics secured a 9-7 victory over the Cincinnati Reds in a spring training game at Goodyear Ballpark in Arizona. The A's built an early lead and held off a late rally from the Reds. This win follows their split squad sweep against the Angels and Dodgers the previous day.
The Athletics took on the Cincinnati Reds at Goodyear Ballpark in Goodyear, Arizona, during spring training. Jack Perkins started on the mound for the A's, entering the game with a 1-2 record and a 6.75 ERA in two prior starts. He faced 24-year-old Rhett Lowder for the Reds.
In the top of the first inning, the Athletics jumped ahead quickly, scoring four runs before recording an out. This outburst included four hits, an error, and a sacrifice fly against Lowder, putting the A's up 4-0. The Reds responded in the bottom of the first, with Matt McClain leading off with a single and former A's outfielder JJ Bleday hitting a home run to narrow the gap to 4-2.
Perkins pitched 2.2 innings, throwing 58 pitches with 30 strikes, while allowing two runs. He navigated jams in each of his innings. In the top of the fourth, Cameron Leary doubled, and Jeff McNeil hit his first home run of the spring, extending the lead to 6-2.
Luis Medina relieved in the bottom of the fourth, walking Ke'Bryan Hayes and Matt McClain to open the inning. However, Garrett Hampson flied out, Bleday struck out, and Spencer Steer grounded into a force play to escape the threat.
Brooks Kriske took the mound in the fifth and allowed a run when Nathaniel Lowe doubled and Noelvi Marte followed with another double, making it 6-3. The Athletics answered in the top of the second with additional scoring: Michael Stefanic singled, Max Muncy walked, and after a double steal involving Luke Mann, Jared Dickey singled to score Stefanic, while walks to Drew Swift and Jared Sprague-Lott brought in another run.
By midway through the seventh, the A's led 9-3. A.J. Causey pitched a scoreless seventh after Kriske's 2.0 innings, where he allowed one earned run on two hits, a walk, and two strikeouts. Domingo Robles entered in the eighth but struggled, issuing a walk, a single, and hitting a batter before an RBI sacrifice fly. Rece Hinds then hit a three-run home run, closing the score to 9-7.
The Athletics held on for the 9-7 win.
