{"id":685677,"date":"2026-04-29T07:54:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T07:54:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/685677\/"},"modified":"2026-04-29T07:54:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T07:54:20","slug":"reds-strike-out-11-with-dramatic-abs-challenge-in-9th-unlocking-free-pizza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/685677\/","title":{"rendered":"Reds Strike Out 11 With Dramatic ABS Challenge in 9th, Unlocking Free Pizza"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Cincinnati Reds<\/a> have been running a “Strikeouts for Slices” promotion with LaRosa’s Pizzeria<\/a> this season where any time the team’s pitching staff records 11 strikeouts in a game, fans win free pizza.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday night against the Colorado Rockies<\/a>, a 13-17 club coming off a three-game series against the Mets in which they struck out 33 times, the stakes for that elusive free pizza reached a fever pitch in the ninth inning.<\/p>\n

With 10 strikeouts in the books and Brock Burke on the mound holding a 1-2 count against Edouard Julien, his next pitch was initially called a ball.<\/p>\n

But that’s why teams are allotted two opportunities per game to turn to robots for the correct call and, in turn, free pizza.<\/p>\n

‘Free Pizza for Everyone!’ Reds Challenge in 9th Inning Awarded Free Pizza for the Whole Crowd\"Mar<\/p>\n

Mar 12, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Cincinnati Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson against the Los Angeles Dodgers during a spring training game at Camelback Ranch-Glendale. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images\u00a9 Mark J&period; Rebilas-Imagn Images&NewLine;&NewLine;<\/p>\n

The pitch was clearly very close and despite sitting comfortably with a 7-2 lead, Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson wisely signaled for the ABS (Automated Ball-Strike) challenge while those in attendance at Great American Ball Park awaited with great anticipation.<\/p>\n

Check out this pop from the crowd after the pitch was overturned and rightfully ruled a strike, officially marking that fateful 11th strikeout:<\/p>\n

“Stephenson’s won one [challenge] tonight, can he win pizza for those in the stands?” Reds announcer John Sadak<\/a> asked, as he expertly dialed up the drama.<\/p>\n

“The crowd’s ready to burst… that’s a strike! Pizza for everybody!”<\/p>\n

After allowing the free pizza moment to properly breathe, Sadak simply stated, “He [Stephenson] does it for the people.”<\/p>\n

Any baseball fan who went into the 2026 MLB<\/a> season wondering whether or not bringing in the ABS Challenge System<\/a> would be a good idea for the game should really need no further convincing.<\/p>\n

As one fan on X<\/a> plainly put it, “The ABS system is reviving the sport of baseball. Amazing.”<\/p>\n

There are very few things in this world that can bring people together, and do so in such quick fashion.<\/p>\n

But free pizza is certainly one of them.<\/p>\n

Related: Paul Skenes Actually Delivers on Bouncy House for Konnor Griffin’s 20th Birthday<\/a><\/p>\n

This story was originally published by Athlon Sports<\/a> on Apr 29, 2026, where it first appeared in the MLB<\/a> section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Cincinnati Reds have been running a “Strikeouts for Slices” promotion with LaRosa’s Pizzeria this season where any…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":685678,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2400],"tags":[49222,5,3765,33244,535,50,4259,52,2080,86208,4,1086,536,1791,812,1868,86726],"class_list":{"0":"post-685677","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cincinnati-reds","8":"tag-abs-challenge","9":"tag-baseball","10":"tag-brock-burke","11":"tag-challenge-system","12":"tag-cincinnati","13":"tag-cincinnati-reds","14":"tag-cincinnatireds","15":"tag-colorado-rockies","16":"tag-edouard-julien","17":"tag-free-pizza","18":"tag-mlb","19":"tag-ninth-inning","20":"tag-reds","21":"tag-the-los-angeles-dodgers","22":"tag-the-mets","23":"tag-tyler-stephenson","24":"tag-win-free-pizza"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116486922591912733","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/685677","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=685677"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/685677\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/685678"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=685677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=685677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=685677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}