Tyler Stephenson hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the ninth inning, and the Cincinnati Reds won their first road game of the season, a 5-3 victory that spoiled the Texas Rangers‘ home opener Friday.
Spencer Steer and Elly De La Cruz also homered for Cincinnati.
Steer opened the ninth with a double off reliever Chris Martin (1-1) before Stephenson lined a full-count pitch into the Rangers’ bullpen in right-center for his first homer of the season.
Tony Santillan (1-0), the fourth of five Reds pitchers, worked a perfect eighth. Emilio Pagán pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his second save.
The Rangers played their first home game under new manager Skip Schumaker after taking two of three in Philadelphia and Baltimore. The last time Texas played six games before its home opener was 2008.
Steer’s two-run homer in the second and De La Cruz’s leadoff shot in the sixth both came off MacKenzie Gore, the All-Star left-hander acquired from Washington in January in a trade for five prospects. It was the third homer — all solo shots — for De La Cruz this season.
Gore struck out nine without a walk while allowing three runs over six innings in his first home start.
Texas tied the game at 2 in the second when No. 9 hitter Danny Jansen doubled under the glove of diving left fielder Steer off Reds starter Brady Singer, who struck out five and walked one while pitching into the sixth.
Brandon Nimmo tripled with one out in the seventh before Wyatt Langford’s RBI double tied it at 3.
Reds right-hander Rhett Lowder, still a rookie after debuting in 2024 and missing all of 2025 with forearm and oblique strains, makes his second start of the season Saturday. Rangers right-hander Kumar Rocker, their No. 5 starter, makes his season debut.