Hal McCoy
The Big Road Machine bogged down on Wednesday, April 22 at St. Petersburg Beach.
After winning their first five games on this road trip and taking a 10-2 road record this season into Tropicana Field, the Cincinnati Reds were stopped by the Tampa Bay Rays, 6-1.
And they were sidetracked by a familiar face, former teammate Nick Martinez, the Fred Astaire of the pitching mound with his dancing feet.
Martinez, a member of Cincinnati’s pitching staff the previous two seasons, told reporters before the game, “It’ll be cat-and-mouse. Should be fun.”
Martinez was the cat and the Reds were the mice and it was fun for Martinez but not for the Reds.
Martinez, a 35-year-old stuffed with savvy, pitched eight innings for only the third time in his career, twice for the Reds.
Hall of Fame baseball writer Hal McCoy knows a thing or two about our nation’s pastime. Tap …
He needed only 94 pitches, 71 of them strikes that featured a bevy of 79 miles per hour change-ups, and held the Reds to one run and five hits — four singles and a double.
“Yeah, all of the things I said about him (Martinez) I said last year, I would say the exact same thing, but it wasn’t for us, it was against us” Reds manager Tito Francona told reporters.
“That’s what he can do,” added Francona. “He threw strikes and he stayed out of the middle of the plate and changed speeds. He pitched.”
On the flip side, Reds starter Brandon Williamson began the game in the first inning as if it was going to be a breeze.
The breeze turned into a hurricane in the second and third innings.
He began the game by striking out Yandy Diaz and Jonathan Aranda and inducing a pop-up from Junior Caminero.
Three up, three down — quick, efficient outs.
It was a different pitcher that walked to the mound for the second. Suddenly, he lost command.
Williamson issued two walks to open the second inning, then a run-scoring single up the middle by a Williamson on the other side, Ben Williamson.
Chandler Simpson hit a sacrifice fly and Diaz singled home another run for a 3-0 Tampa Bay lead.
Caminero opened the third by driving Williamson’s second pitch 404 feet over the right-center wall.
The Rays made it 5-1 in the fifth on a leadoff infield single by Diaz, a walk and a run-scoring single by Ryan Vilade to push the lead to 5-1 and end Williamson’s day.
His line was 4 1/3 innings, five runs, seven hits, three walks and a hit batsman.
Cincinnati Reds pitcher Brandon Williamson walks off after being taken out against the Tampa Bay Rays during the fifth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, April 22, 2026, in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Chris O’Meara – AP
“It was his command,” said Francona about Williamson’s day. “A leadoff walk, he hit a batter … when he did command, he was fine.
“He had a good change-up, he spins it, he just had some unforced errors, I guess you’d call it,” he added.
The Reds had opportunities that flopped.
T.J. Friedl opened the game with a single, but stayed anchored at first when Matt McLain lined to right, Elly De La Cruz rolled into a force play and Sal Stewart struck out.
De La Cruz and Eugenio Suarez both encountered difficulties gauging Martinez’s offerings.
De La Cruz was 0 for 4 and struck out twice, both times looking at fastballs after falling behind on soft stuff.
Suarez was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Cincinnati’s biggest chance for a big inning surfaced in the fifth when the first three batters, the bottom of the order, reached base.
Nate Lowe began the inning with a single and Spencer Steer doubled, the Reds’ only extra base hit. When Will Benson walked, the Reds had the bases loaded with no outs.
P.J. Higgins hit a sacrifice fly, but Steer was cut down at home on Friedl’s grounder to first and McLain lined out to right.
So after having the bases full with no outs, the Reds scored only one run.
Stewart singled with one out in the sixth, then Martinez retired the last eight batters he faced.
The Rays outfield, all three of them, made catches against the wall to aid Martinez.
Friedl drove one to the wall and center fielder Jonny DeLuca crashed into it while snagging the ball in the third.
Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly de la Cruz throws out Tampa Bay Rays’ Junior Caminero at first base during the seventh inning of a baseball game Wednesday, April 22, 2026, in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Chris O’Meara – AP
Stewart drilled one into the right field corner in the fourth and Vilade slammed into the wall while catching it.
Steer laced one to the wall in left field in the seventh and Simpson banged against the wall while snaring the ball.
“I thought Steer hit one good enough and Sal’s ball I thought was a home run,” said Francona. “At the time that would have been really big.”
At the time the Reds had a runner on first and were only down, 4-0.
And matters could have been worse had the Reds not turned three double plays and the Rays were 3 for 10 with runners in scoring position.
The Reds are off Thursday before opening a three-game series Friday night against the Detroit Tigers.
It will be Hall of Fame weekend at Great American Ball Park when Lou Piniella, Reggie Sanders, Aaron Harang and Brandon Phillips are inducted.
Phillips will sign a ceremonial one-day contract so he can officially retire as a member of the Reds.
NEXT GAME
Who: Detroit at Cincinnati
When: 6:40 p.m., Friday, April 24
Streaming: Reds.TV
Radio: 700-AM, 1410-AM