Votto lifts Reds past Royals in tenth
Joey Votto doubled off the center field wall, scoring Nick Senzel with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning as the Cincinnati Reds defeated the visiting Kansas City Royals 6-5 Tuesday.
The Reds earned their first walk-off win of the season in their first extra-inning game. They have won three of four overall. The Royals saw their four-game winning streak end.
With Senzel starting the 10th on second base, Nick Castellanos walked on a 3-2 pitch. Votto then hit a first-pitch sinker to center, ending the game.
Lucas Sims (1-0) pitched one scoreless inning for the win. Josh Staumont (0-1) lost his first major league decision, failing to retire either of the batters he faced.
The Reds blew another save opportunity in the eighth inning, their fourth in six chances this season.
Neither starter factored in the decision. Kansas City's Kris Bubic allowed five runs on seven hits in five innings, striking out six and walking one. Luis Castillo fared better for Cincinnati. He allowed three runs (one earned) on seven hits in six innings, walking two and striking out five.
The Reds scored first in the second inning. After Bubic put runners on first and second, he got two outs before Kyle Farmer doubled to the wall in right center, scoring two.
The Royals let good scoring opportunities get away in the second and third innings. They had runners on second and third with no outs, and the bases loaded with two outs, but couldn't score in the second. In the third, they loaded the bases with no outs on a walk and two errors but only managed one run.
The Reds added three more runs in the third. Castellanos tripled to left-center leading off the inning. With two outs, Matt Davidson homered to right-center. Jesse Winker followed with his own opposite-field home run to left field. Davidson now has 12 home runs in 28 career games against the Royals.
The Royals got another unearned run in the fourth when Nicky Lopez doubled and later scored on an error by center fielder Senzel. They finally got an earned run in the fifth on an RBI single by Adalberto Mondesi.
Ryan McBroom tied it with a two-run pinch hit home run off Amir Garrett in the eighth.
--Field Level Media
