Taylor Walls homered from each side of the plate, tripled and drove in four runs while rookie right-hander Taj Bradley threw 5 1/3 shutout innings to lead the visiting Tampa Bay Rays to a 10-0 rout of the Cincinnati Reds Tuesday night.
The switch-hitting Walls, considered a defensive specialist who can play multiple positions on the infield, finished with four hits and four runs.
Bradley (2-0), the top-rated prospect in the Tampa Bay organization, was the beneficiary of another explosive offensive night in his second major league start. With his mother watching behind the Rays’ dugout, Bradley limited the Reds to three hits and struck out nine on 84 pitches before being pulled with nobody on in the sixth.
Wil Myers made two consecutive spectacular defensive plays at first base in the ninth for the Reds, who have alternated lopsided wins and losses for the last six games.
The Rays belted four more home runs to give them 41 through their first 18 games, one shy of the MLB-record pace of the 2000 St. Louis Cardinals at the same point.
On a night when the Reds extended fellow pitching phenom Hunter Greene to a six-year, $53 million deal, Cincinnati starter Nick Lodolo (2-1) had the roughest out of his young career. The lefty allowed career highs in hits (12), runs (eight) and home runs (three) while hitting three batters over just 4 2/3 innings.
Walls lofted a one-out solo home run to left off Lodolo that ignited a four-run second inning. The long ball extended Tampa Bay’s season-opening streak of games with at least one home run to 18, two shy of Seattle’s record from 2019.
Yandy Diaz crushed a pitch 440 feet to left for a three-run homer and a 4-0 Rays lead.
The Rays added three more runs in the third, highlighted by a two-run triple from Walls that put Tampa Bay ahead, 6-0.
Randy Arozarena drilled his fourth homer of the season during the fourth for an 8-0 margin. Lodolo was pulled after walking Wander Franco to load the bases in the fifth.
Walls switched over to the left side of the plate to face righty reliever Casey Legumina in the sixth. Walls pulled a pitch to the seats in right for his second of the game and third homer of the season.
–Field Level Media