Reds Win Opener Walk-Off Style

Ramon Hernandez and the Reds celebrate their Opening
Day win over the Brewers.

By: Cooper Ledford


The Cincinnati Reds were trying to win on Opening Day for the first time since 2007. At first, it looked like they had no chance, as they were down early, but Ramon Hernandez hit a walk-off three-run homer to give the Reds the win, 7-6, over the Milwaukee Brewers, here is how.


Edinson Volquez was the pitcher for the Reds, his first batter he faced was Rickie Weeks.  Guess what Weeks, did?  He hit a home run, 1-0 the score early on.  Now who is taller, Rickie Weeks or Carlos Gomez?  Well, they would go back-to-back to find out.  Yes, Gomez hit a homer too, it was 2-0 after the first two batters came to bat.  Looked pretty bad for Volquez.  But the scoring was not done yet, with Braun on 3rd, McGehee would hit a sac fly, 3-0 the score at the end of 1.

Ramon Hernandez celebrates after hitting a walk-off home
run on Opening Day.

The Reds would answer back a little bit in the bottom of the 1st.  Drew Stubbs, the lead-off hitter, hit a double, Brandon Phillips bunted him to 3rd, and then Joey Votto hit a sac fly to bring Drew in, that would  make it 3-1.  


The Brew Crew would get a run in the 2nd when Rickie Weeks hit an RBI double to plate Nieves, 4-1 the score.


That would be the score until the bottom of the 4th when Drew Stubbs hit a solo home run to shorten the lead to 2.


But, Milwaukee would get their 3-run lead back in the 5th when Ryan Braun hit a solo homer to make it 5-2. They would score again in the 7th when Casey McGehee came up to the plate, after a single + an Jonny Gomes error, and then a balk, McGehee hit an RBI single to bring in Braun, and the Brewers had their biggest lead of the game, 6-2.


Cincinnati would shorten that lead to 3 in their half of the 7th when the reigning NL MVP, Joey Votto, hit a solo home run, the score was 6-3.


There would be no scoring until the 9th, the Reds trailed by 4.  Brandon Phillips hit a single, that was followed by a Joey Votto walk, then came a crazy play in which Scott Rolen reached on a fielder's choice, and there you have it, the bases were loaded with no outs.  The batter, Jay Bruce.  We all remember how he hit that walk-off homer to clinch the NL Central, but could he hit a walk-off grand slam to give the Reds win again?  Nope, he was down on strikes.  Then came Jonny Gomes.  Gomes gave the Reds their first win of last season thanks to a walk-off home run, could he do it again?  Nope, but he did hit a sac fly to plate Phillips and make the score 6-4.  Then the catcher Ramon Hernandez came to bat.  There were two on and two outs, a homer would win it.  And guess what? RAMON HERNANDEZ HIT A WALK-OFF THREE-RUN HOME RUN TO GIVE THE REDS THE WIN "And this one belongs to the Reds!". Talk about an exciting finish!


While the Reds feel like winners, Edinson Volquez might not, as he pitched badly.  Volquez went 6 innings, gave up 7 hits, 5 runs, walked 2, and fanned 3.  Not what you want from your Opening Day starter.  He must get better.


Tomorrow the Reds will be off, as always, and will play again on Saturday at 7:10 PM ET.  Travis Wood will be the pitcher for Cincinnati, while Shaun Marcum will pitch for Milwaukee.  The game will be on Fox Sports Ohio.