The Cincinnati Reds (54-50) defeated the Tampa Bay Rays (53-51) 7-2 on Friday night at the Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati to win the opener of the three-game interleague series.
After the Reds got one in the first thanks to a Tyler Stephenson homer, the Rays got a RBI single from Jonathan Aranda in the third and a RBI double from Taylor Walls in the fourth to take a 2-1 lead.
The Reds had a big answer, getting two runs back in the fourth before adding two in the sixth and two in the seventh to take control of the game en route to a 7-2 win.
Zack Littell (8-8, 3.72) got the loss, allowing five earned runs on ten hits in six innings of work in which he struck out two and walked none.
The Rays will now look to bounce back when they meet the Reds in the middle game of the three-game series on First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 PM - Chris Adams-Wall begins pregame coverage at 6:00 PM on 95.3 WDAE & AM 620, your Home of Rays Baseball.
COVER PHOTO COURTESY GETTY IMAGES