OAKLAND -- Coming off of a three-game sweep in which they won every game in their final at-bat, the Reds tempered their flair for the dramatic on Friday, instead getting the bats going early at the Coliseum.
The Reds' offense was firing on all cylinders as the lineup combined for 16 knocks in a series-opening 11-7 win over the A's, extending their season-high four-game winning streak and keeping right-hander Luis Cessa in line to earn his first win of 2023. Each player in Cincinnati's starting nine reached base at least once, with eight of them recording two hits.
"The key was just adding on runs, tacking on runs, two-out hits," manager David Bell said. "Really, the whole lineup was able to contribute. … It kind of felt like it was that kind of game that we needed to keep scoring, and our offense did that."
While late-inning magic was at play when the Reds swept the Rangers in three games at Great American Ball Park, they didn't waste any time in Oakland, tagging A's starter Drew Rucinski for five runs (three earned). Jake Fraley put a bow on Cincinnati's early barrage by cranking a two-run shot to dead center in the third inning, donning the team's celebratory Viking garb when he returned to the dugout.
The Reds proved difficult to put away throughout the evening, striking out just four times and driving in eight runs with two outs. That persistence paid off as the lineup backed Cessa, who put together one of his better starts of the young season.
While Cincinnati's starting pitchers have struggled with consistency as a whole, Cessa has had a particularly rough beginning of the 2023 campaign, entering Friday with a 10.80 ERA and a .403 opponents' batting average that ranked last among pitchers who had thrown at least 15 innings. The Reds had gone winless in his first four starts of 2023.
Cessa's first inning did not initially look promising, as he allowed three straight singles to fall into an early one-run deficit.
"A couple of bloopers, soft contact. I had a little flashback to when I faced the Phillies, 'Oh my God, here we go again,'" Cessa said. "It was one run, and after that, I just tried to keep the confidence in my pitches, stay aggressive [and not] change my plan, because something happened like this in the first inning."
Sticking to his process worked, as Cessa got his next batter to ground into an inning-ending double play and was largely in control from there. He didn't overpower the A's lineup, allowing eight hits and a walk while striking out two over five-plus innings, but he was able to get quick outs on balls in play, including a well-timed grab that Jonathan India converted into a double play in the fourth.
When the sixth inning rolled around, Cessa found himself in trouble again when A's catcher Shea Langeliers drove in a pair of runs on a triple, putting the game-tying run at the plate with nobody out. Derek Law took over from there and was able to retire the side, with India coming up big again as he leapt to snag a line drive off the bat of A's second baseman Jordan Diaz to strand Langeliers at third.
"It's a win for the team," Cessa said. "A really good inning for Law, but he had a really good defense behind him, too."
Said Bell: "You never know what can happen if India doesn't make those plays."
Friday night's win in Oakland not only extended the Reds' winning streak, but it was also their first victory away from their home ballpark since April 9. Cincinnati is now 2-9 on the road, a mark that the team intends to chip away at -- and eventually put in the rearview mirror.
"No different than when, individually, you're going to go on tough stretches through the year. As a team, you are, too," Fraley said. "As long as we have that mindset of just the next game up, not thinking into the future, not thinking into the past, but just staying with the opponent that we have for today -- I think that's when good things are going to happen."