Reds vs. Rangers Game Highlights (4/5/26) | MLB Highlights

A beautiful finale to this home opening weekend series. The Rangers and Reds, the roof is open inside Globe Live Field as Texas tries to get back in the win column. Happy to be with you on this Easter Sunday. Jack Leiter as he goes to the mound. And let's hope that it goes as well as it went the other day. Oh, he's in the powder blues today on March 30th at Baltimore, six innings pitch, two earned runs. He is running. And the pitch is strike three called to throw down to second high. And it is a stolen base for Friedel, his second of the year. But McClain strikes out looking. Here comes the pitch. Struck and out looking on the outside corner. Slider just barely hooked the corner on its way outside. The Reds, it's right hander Chase Burns, whose stuff was sizzling against the Pirates Monday. Swing and a miss and down on strikes Brandon Nimmo. So Burns blows him away. Corey Seager, first pitch pop, Hayes, that'll help. And Burns has a 1-2-3 first inning. You're not going to find a game today in Major League Baseball out of the 15 games being played, you will not find two pitchers throwing harder than these two guys. Leiter right back to the plate and he strikes him out 99 with a heat that time. And Suarez down to begin the second. Jack's 3-2. And that strike three called his fourth strikeout already. Wow. This is his first strikeout today on the changeup, perfectly placed in a full count situation. You're watching two, what I believe, future stars in the making on the mound today. Got him. Look at that strut from Burns. He knew he landed that pitch upon release. And a swing and a miss. Burns blows a fastball by him at triple digits. He has three strikeouts through the first two innings. Scoreless tie at the end of two. Noelvi Marte, who's had some staggered playing time at the start, he's 0 for 10, six strikeouts. Hurry, softly, in between, infield hit, the first knock of the year for Noelvi Marte. Marte goes, Cowboy called it, hard ground ball, no chance at a double play. But that's because that's how you stay out of the double play. They got T.J. Friedel to scoring position, a walk and a steal first inning. He never left second base. 2-2. And a swing and a miss. Another strikeout for Leiter, his fifth of the day. All right, here's a looping drive out into left field. Langford went back, but he's got to come in on this, and at a jogging pace, he puts it away to retire McLean for the final out. Higgy hits this one on the ground, shortstop, off of the glove of De La Cruz, and Nogashioka is on in the third. The Rangers have their first base runner today. Swing and a miss. It looked like Burns took something off that pitch and had Smith way out in front. That is strikeout number four. Zeke three for 11 to start the year. Hits one on the ground to short, scooped up by De La Cruz, to McLean for one, on to first, not in time. Zeke hustling down the line, avoids the inning ending double play, and reaches on the fielder's choice. So, we'll see if that extra bit of hustle pays off for the Rangers, as Nemo steps in. And he shoots one out into the alley, left center field. Duran, good start, he'll make it to third, and so the Rangers have him on the corner. Swing and a miss, and a little drop third strike by Tyler Stevenson, he'll gun it down to first base to get Langford on the put out at first. And that one's taken by De La Cruz over second base. Base hit. Sal Stewart, first pitch, right field, Nemo. Long fly ball out, De La Cruz tag, bad arm by Nemo, and De La Cruz has second. Nemo's played little right field, he's more been a center left fielder, and of the three Rangers outfielders, he has the worst arm. They're going to appeal at first base, he did not go early. Safe signal given, he has scoring position. That is just great base running. Another runner in scoring position, with less than two outs, see if the Reds can take advantage this time around. Here we go. Has eyes, that's in the left center, De La Cruz around third, he can jog home. Hey, Eugenio Suarez with the RBI hit, and the Reds take a 1-0 lead. Watch this swing by Suarez, very under control, not the overswing that you saw from the first two pitches, he just stays right on it, trying to take the ball back up the middle, I guess you could say that's a base hit swing. There's a swing and a miss, another strikeout for Leiter, he is stacking up the strikeouts and the swings and misses, that's six Ks. Good job by Leiter, focusing concentration after giving up the RBI base hit. And he struck him out, look at him on the slider. Another two punch outs for Leiter in the inning, both coming on the slide ball, he's up to seven strikeouts in four innings. Chase Burns in his first nine career starts, a four to one strikeout to walk ratio, third best by a Red going back as the record is due to 1900, trailing only Gary Nolan and Johnny Cueto. Nasty slider, half dozen strikeouts for Burns. Burns just struck out a great hitter. Swing and a miss, he blew a fastball by him at 100, Peterson's down on strikes. Seven strikeouts for Chase Burns. We go to the fifth inning, still Reds one, Rangers nothing. A really nice performance from Jack Leiter. Unfortunately, Chase Burns looks unhittable at this point. All right, 2-2. And he got him swinging, a change up gets Friedel, eighth strikeout now for Leiter. Oh my gosh, watch the movement here. This ball looks like it's going to be a strike and then it just takes off off the plate. Leiter to the plate. Strike three call on the outside quarter. Jack racks up strikeout number nine, just one shy of his career high. Chase Burns rolling along, he's got the top of the Ranger order starting to make his way through this lineup now for the third time. Nemo lifts that ball into short center field, that's well placed. Brandon Nemo has two hits today. Flared right side, a lot of ground, it falls on a bounce, Stewart alert, throw to second, force, he's out. That was an incredible play and great positional awareness by Sal Stewart. For a young player, his gamesmanship, that is some kind of nice. And Wyatt's in there with a steal and the Rangers have that tying run and scoring position. Payoff. Struck him out. And Burns fired up, pumping his fist as he heads off the mound to the Reds dugout. Six scoreless innings in the book for Chase Burns. Benson yesterday was 0-2 before he was lifted for a pinch hitting Dane Myers. That's lifted to left, long run, that's going to fall fair. Benson streaking up to second, a double off the bench for Will Benson. Insurance run and scoring position. That kicks away, Benson has third, Higashioka after it, pitcher cover. And Benson slows at third base, alert cover there by Wynn, a wild pitch. And now that added run, 90 feet away with one out. 1-2. Yeah, that's popped up. Right side of the infield, it's taking Smith way out into the outfield, he makes the catch, turns and heads it to the plate. And that's good awareness as Benson holds up at third. Here he comes. Bouncing ball right side, Smith takes the head high hop, gets it to Berger in time. Friedel, the final out here in the top half of the seventh. So no runs a hit, Benson is stranded at third. Now Burns stays in the game for the seventh inning. Jack Peterson leads it off here for Texas in the bottom of the seventh. Here's a 2-1 pitch. And there's a swing and that one's driven high in the air. Deep out to right, Benson is back, it's gone. Jack Peterson, his first hit of the year and it ties the game. What a moment for the Rangers D.H. Well, Chase Burns gives Jack Peterson a pitch to hit and Jack Peterson caught it. I'll tell you what was impressive, his back throw after he hit this ball. Boy, is that a big swing for Jack Peterson. Get rid of that bat. I'd say save that bat. That's great. Evan Carter will have an infield to hit. That's going to be all for Burns. He goes six plus a couple of batters, the Reds go to their bullpen. So here we go, runners at second and third, two men out. Now the left-hander, Sam Maul, the second time we've seen him in this series. He's on now to face Brandon Nemo, left-handed hitter. Swing and a miss, a fastball. He had a little chop swing at it. He pulled the string by adding a little bit to that heater right there and he gets out of the inning. Great job by Sam Maul, the lefty. And McLean works a walk, but right after the Rangers tie it, Garcia has trouble finding the zone. Gifts McLean first and the man is home for Hildy DeLaPriest. And it's a stolen base for Matt McLean. The Reds have toiled with men in scoring position of the year. You have McLean, one of their faster men at second. DeLaCruz at the plate, Stewart on deck. Grounded right side and through. Wave is on, the scoop and right, Nemo fire to the plate. It's late, head first line McLean. Ellie DeLaCruz snaps the tie with a ribby single. It's 2-1 Cincinnati in the eighth. That's a really nice piece of hitting from Ellie. A lot of times we've seen him pull the ball from the right side. That time it was almost purposeful. Delayed steal, his first swipe of the season. And he just holds that rear left cleat on the bag. That's lined and down in left field. Base hit, stop sign at third. DeLaCruz late breaks. Could he have scored there? I thought so. Base is loaded now. Stevenson does not run well. So if he can hit a ground ball in the infield, you should get a double play. 0-2 pitch and that one is lined to second. Caught by Smith, back to third, double play. Sometimes you just get a break. DeLaCruz was way down the line at third and Smith with the long throw nailed him to end the inning. 2-2 and that's lined down that left field line out toward the wall into a one hop defense. Berger hooks it into left for a double. Oh that was a daring move by Jake Berger with two outs in the inning. The ball did not get far away from the catcher Stevenson. Outside ball four. Saul Peterson will accept the walk. Have runners first and third now. Evan Carter a chance to provide the heroics here. Swung on and this ball's drilled toward right center field. It's deep. Dane Meyer's going back. He's got it measured. He's got it two steps shy of the wall in deep center field. The Rangers threaten but leave them at the corners in the eighth inning and we go to the ninth. Brock Burke. He does not yet have a save. He is 0 for 13 lifetime in save tries. Struck him out. A three pitch K for Burke. Payoff. Struck him out. Consecutive punch outs for Burke. Struck him out. Three straight K's. The first career save for Brock Burke. The Reds make it a clean sweep. They have their best nine game start in five years.