CINCINNATI — The first thing Austin Hays wanted to do after his dramatic debut with the Reds Tuesday night was take a photo with his two sons.
So he too off his Jackie Robinson ’42’ uniform and put on a clean uniform top and left the clubhouse to take some family pics.
As it turned out, he had his own picture-perfect return to baseball Tuesday in what turned into a perfect first day of school with his new Reds teammates. Hays belted a go-ahead three-run homer and drove in four in his Cincinnati debut to help rally the reinforced Reds past the visiting Seattle Mariners, 8-4, on a chilly Tuesday night.
Hays had an impressive spring, showing off the power that several years ago made him a high-rising piece of the Orioles lineup. He batted .310 with three homers and a team-leading 14 RBIs in 16 Cactus League games before a calf injury on the final day of spring training in Arizona shelved him for nearly three weeks.
Hays was set to start the season as Cincinnati’s cleanup hitter but sustained a calf injury three days before the season opener and spent the first 16 games on the injured list. Hays broke out Tuesday, going 2-for-4 for the Reds, who won their fourth straight and sixth in seven games to move over .500 for the first time this season.
“It was pretty good. Had a good game. The team had a good game. We got out with a win. So just happy to celebrate it with the boys,” Hays said. And by boys, he meant his teammate in the clubhouse and then his two sons.
Someone who was certainly thrilled to have him back was his manager Terry Francona. Suddenly, with Hays back and Matt McLain returning from a strained hamstring and Gavin Lux filling in very nicely in the middle of the order, the Reds lineup feels much different.
“We missed him, and it doesn’t always worked that quickly when a guy comes back, but I think we just missed him,” the Reds skipper said. “He’s such a professional. I’d never been around him before, and when he came to spring, you like to do your homework. But when you’re around a kid every day, his professionalism, the way he goes about his business, it’s really welcome.”
His swing on a Luis Castillo 95 MPH fastball was welcome in the fifth, after the Reds had cut Seattle’s lead to 4-3. His fly ball landed on the centerfield berm with two runners aboard, giving the Reds exactly the kind of pop they were hoping he could bring when they signed him to a one-year, $5 million “prove-it” deal in free agency.
“I was feeling really good coming out of spring training,” Hays said. “And you never really know where you’re at until you get in some games when you’re coming off the IL but my swing felt really good in the build up, and my bats in Louisville felt really good. So I was confident coming into the game. But yeah, to start off with a good game, put some good swings on ball.”
“I think the home run was a four-seam and the other hit was a sinker. I felt like I put good swings on his fastball, but I had some good takes. He threw me a good change up to two that I took down and threw me a slider that I was able to spit on away. So sometimes. it’s the takes that tell you more than just the swing. So to be able to take some of his nastier stuff to get to the fastball was good. So just I had a lot to like about my at-bats tonight.”
The Reds, winners of four straight and six of seven, could see their batting order get even deeper with the return of Tyler Stephenson in a couple of weeks from an oblique strain.
“It’s a great winning spot. Everything’s more fun when you win,” Hays said. “So these guys have been playing really good lately. The pitching staff has been doing a great job. I was able to watch most of the games, and then I was here for the beginning of the season when we were at home, so I was in the dugout at least. Felt like I was with the guys and with the team. That’s always good for rehab, too, and you’re not just out somewhere else. So I feel like I’ve been here the whole time, but being in the dugout. Obviously, playing is just different. I’m glad we’re able to win.”
Hays’ three-run blow in the fifth came off Seattle starter and former Cincinnati ace Luis Castillo (1-2), who was staked to leads of 2-0 and 4-2 but couldn’t hold them. The Reds got to Castillo for six runs on seven hits in just 4 1/3 innings. Castillo was Cincinnati’s only All-Star back in 2022 when the team – in the midst of a 100-loss season – traded him to Seattle just before the trade deadline.
“I feel like that was one of our first comeback wins, where we were down early and kept scrapping different ways to get on score runs,” said Gavin Lux, who was 4-for-4 on the night with a pair of RBIs. “Obviously, having Hays-ee back helps a ton. He lengthens out this lineup. And having a guy in the middle that can hit, guys that can have that at-bat quality that you’re looking for, walk different ways. So obviously, getting him back and Matty back helps a ton. I think just all been down the lineup. There’s really good at bats.”
Lux was finding the holes in the infield all night, starting with his RBI single up the middle in the third that started a two-run rally. He wound up with four ground-ball hits on the night.
“It’s a long, long season. You’re gonna get a lot of at-bats. We all like to think everything evens out. You get some bloopers that make up for the ride on. So never really feels like that. But yeah, you get four ground ball hits. That doesn’t happen too much. So I think just trying to keep continuing up good at bats and do what I need to do to help this team win and get on base and do the right thing situationally, and just kind of let the results kind of fall out, however they might be.”
The Reds wanted to get more experienced batters in their order this season, batters who could make adjustments like the Reds did Tuesday after Castillo had a seven-pitch first inning.
“After he has a quick first inning, you’re just trying to see some pitches make them work a little bit,” Lux told me. “You just can’t have another fast inning like that two innings in a row and let him settle in. So, you’re just trying to grind it out and make them work a little bit. And I think we did that. We had good at-bats against them second through the fifth inning. I think hitting is contagious, though. So when everyone’s rolling like that, it’s gonna be a scary offense, for sure.”
Matt McLain returned from a 10-day stint on the injured list, walked three times and scored twice while 2023 All-Star closer Alexis Diaz came back from a hamstring injury, retired two batters but walked a pair in the sixth. Graham Ashcraft walked Julio Rodriguez to load the bases but recorded the final out on a nice defensive play by first baseman Christian Encarnacion-Strand and then pitched a scoreless seventh. Scott Barlow (1-0) recorded the final out of the fifth for the win.
Tony Santillan pitched a perfect eighth before Emilio Pagan came on to pitch a scoreless ninth.
Dylan Moore drilled a pair of home runs and drove in four for the Mariners, who had their four-game win streak snapped.
The Mariners jumped out to a 1-0 lead on the second pitch of the game from Cincinnati starter Nick Lodolo. The left-hander left a fastball over the middle of the plate and Moore crushed it 429 feet to the left of the batter’s eye in straightaway center for his first career leadoff home run. Lodolo allowed four runs on six hits over 4 2/3 innings, watching his ERA rise from 0.96 to 2.31.
Another Seattle batter achieved a career first in the second when Ben Williamson, making his Major League debut, singled into the hole between shortstop and third in his first career plate appearance. Williamson came around to score when Moore singled to left to make it a 2-0 game.
think that’s probably being fair to him, or maybe to our team right now. Just think there’s a way to go about it.”
