Reds beat Rangers 5-3 in their 1st road game with 3 homers, the last in the 9th

By Canadian Press on April 3, 2026.

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Tyler Stephenson hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the ninth inning and the Cincinnati Reds won in their first road game this season, a 5-3 victory to spoil the home opener for the Texas Rangers on Friday.

Spencer Steer and Elly Del La Cruz also homered for the Reds.

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.

Tony Santillian (1-0), the fourth of five Reds pitchers, pitched a perfect eighth inning. Emilio Pagán worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his second save.

The Rangers played their first home game for new manager Skip Schumaker after taking two of three games in series at Philadelphia and Baltimore. The last time they played six games before their home opener was 2008.

Steer’s two-run homer in the second and De La Cruz going deep to lead off the sixth both came off MacKenzie Gore, the All-Star left-hander that came to Texas 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 those three runs over six innings in his first home start.

Texas got even at 2 in the bottom of the second on No. 9 batter Danny Jansen’s double under the the glove of diving left fielder Steer off Brady Singer, the Reds starter who struck out five and walked one while pitching into the sixth.

Brandon Nimmo had a one-out triple in the Texas seventh before Wyatt Langford’s RBI double for a 3-3 tie.

Up next

Reds right-hander Rhett Lowder, still a rookie after making his MLB debut in 2024 and then missing all of 2025 because of forearm and oblique strains, makes his second start this season Saturday. Rangers right-hander Kumar Rocker, their No. 5 starter, makes his season debut.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Stephen Hawkins, The Associated Press