Williamson struggles with control in finale, but Reds head home with 5-1 trip

ST. PETERSBURG – The limits to the Reds' success on the road so far this season are confined to the state of Florida.

A 6-1 defeat to the Rays on Wednesday at Tropicana Field – which snapped a five-game winning streak – was just the third loss in Cincinnati's 13 games as the visitor in 2026. The other two losses were to the Marlins - in Miami - on April 8-9.

Nevertheless, the Reds are still going home with a 5-1 record from a successful swing through Minnesota and Tampa Bay.

"It was a really good road trip for us. We’ve got to be happy," third baseman Eugenio Suárez said. "We’ve got to feel really good about our road trip today. Tomorrow is an off day. We’ve got to enjoy it and come stronger on Friday to face the Tigers at home.”

Here are two things from Wednesday's finale:

Walks sink Williamson again
Reds starting pitcher Brandon Williamson gave up five runs and seven hits over 4 1/3 innings with three walks and three strikeouts.

"When he did [have] command, he was fine," manager Terry Francona said. "He had a good changeup. He spins it. There were unforced errors, I guess you’d call it.”

Williamson came out sharp with a perfect first inning as he struck out his first two batters. But the left-hander opened the second inning by issuing back-to-back full-count walks to Ryan Vilade and Jonny DeLuca. They quickly haunted Williamson with Ben Williamson's RBI single to right-center field, and a Chandler Simpson sacrifice fly scored both runners.

After Simpson, Williamson hit Nick Fortes with an 0-2 pitch. With two outs, Yandy Díaz also hit an 0-2 pitch for a single.

“I was trying to do too much with those," Williamson said. "There are a few where I got to 0-2 or two-strike counts at least and couldn’t finish either because I put it too over the plate or I tried to do too much and then they got back in the count.”

Williamson leads the National League this season with 16 walks over 25 innings in his five starts, with 13 of them coming in his last three games. He missed all of 2025 recovering from late 2024 Tommy John surgery on his left elbow, and that was after he missed most of that season already with shoulder soreness.

"My warm-up felt great, and in the first inning. Second inning, I wouldn’t say I just lost it," Williamson said. "I just walked two guys, and they got timely hitting. I’m definitely still trying to piece it all together. It’s not easy.”

Martinez foils former club
For the previous two seasons, the Reds loved having Nick Martinez as a team leader and versatile pitching asset for either their rotation or bullpen - sometimes getting to use him both ways in the same week.

Now with the Rays, Martinez stymied Cincinnati for eight innings while allowing one run and five hits with one walk and six strikeouts. He retired 12 of his first 14 batters and completed eight innings for the first time since June 27 for the Reds, when he took a no-hitter into the ninth inning against the Padres.

“I think he commanded really well, his pitches," Francona said. "The sinker today was very firm. It had a lot of late movement. He did a really good job of commanding his pitches. He did not make a mistake. We had a few hard hits. I think today was a good outing for him.”

The Reds still came close to breaking through a couple of times. In the third inning, TJ Friedl hit a drive that was caught by the wall in right-center field. Sal Stewart had a drive to right field caught on the warning track.

In the fifth inning, Nathaniel Lowe led off with a single to center field and Spencer Steer followed with a double to right-center field. Will Benson's walk loaded the bases with no outs. Martinez got away with only one run crossing on P.J. Higgins' sacrifice fly to right field.

“That was a really good time for us to break it out," Suárez said. "He did not make a mistake, and that was a good outing for him."

When the Reds didn't bring back Martinez as a free agent, he signed a one-year, $13 million contract with the Rays and has a 2.10 ERA in five starts. Facing an old team was enjoyable.

"I love it, man," he said. "Obviously, they know what I do well, and they know I love to compete. A couple of guys almost got me, and I let them know that I thought a few of those were getting out of the yard. And so it's always fun competing against your buddies."