Spencer Steer homers in Reds win vs. Angels
Spencer Steer homered in the Reds’ April 11 win against the Los Angeles Angels.
- The Reds offense was stymied by another ace, this time the Los Angeles Angels’ Jose Soriano.
- Soriano pitched seven shutout innings, allowing only two hits while striking out 10.
Los Angeles Angels starter José Soriano didn’t figure to need much help from his offense, but he received plenty anyway.
Soriano entered the April 12 game against the Cincinnati Reds with a 0.45 ERA, and it stood to reason the 5-0 lead Los Angeles provided him with by the end of the second inning would be more than enough run support. That proved true in an eventual 9-6 Angels win at Great American Ball Park.
The defeat for Cincinnati (9-7) meant they’d dropped four out of five games dating back to the final two games of its prior series against the Miami Marlins. The Reds will next host the San Francisco Giants for three games April 14-16.
Soriano didn’t allow a Reds hit until the fourth inning. He tossed seven innings of two-hit, shutout baseball with 10 strikeouts to improve to 4-0 in 2026 and help Los Angeles win the series against Cincinnati. The Angels out-scored the Reds 22-15 over the three games.
Cincinnati’s hits off Soriano were recorded by Matt McLain and catcher P.J. Higgins.
Elly De La Cruz added a third hit in the eighth inning off Indianapolis native and Miami RedHawks product, Sam Bachman. Later in the eighth, Sal Stewart blooped a single into right-center field to score T.J. Friedl and break up the shutout.
Bachman loaded the bases in the eighth and saw two runs cross for Cincinnati on a wild pitch. He was one of three pitchers the Angels needed to record the final six outs, and the Reds loaded the bases again in the ninth with no outs. After a double play, De La Cruz thwacked a three-run homer to right-center field.
The homer was De La Cruz’s fifth of the season. Los Angeles had long ago poured on the offense they’d need, though.
The Angels (8-8) chased Reds starter Andrew Abbott after three-plus innings. Abbott allowed seven runs on eight hits. Los Angeles’ Nos. 6, 7 and 8 hitters − Nolan Schanuel, Logan O’Hoppe and Oswald Peraza − accounted for five combined RBIs by game’s end.
Abbott’s personal record dropped to 0-2 as his ERA increased to 5.85.
Cincinnati’s bullpen quieted the game down somewhat for the second day in a row, allowing two runs the rest of the afternoon. That started with Kyle Nicolas rebounding from his unsuccessful April 10 debut for the Reds with two scoreless innings April 12.
Next up | Reds host San Francisco Giants
Cincinnati will continue its fourth turn through the starting rotation as they send out Brady Singer (0-1, 7.71 ERA), Rhett Lowder (1-1, 3.31 ERA) and Chase Burns (1-1, 3.31 ERA) to face the San Francisco Giants’ Robbie Ray (2-1, 2.08 ERA), former Reds Opening Day starter Tyler Mahle (0-2, 4.30 ERA) and Landen Roupp (2-1, 3.24 ERA).
First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. on Tuesday, April 14 and Wednesday, April 15. The Thursday, April 16 game is a 12:40 p.m. scheduled start.
April 15 marks MLB’s observance of Jackie Robinson Day. There will be league-wide tributes honoring the late Robinson’s MLB debut. All players and coaches will wear uniforms adorning the number “42,” and game caps will feature a patch noting the day. The 2026 season is the 79th anniversary of Robinson debuting in MLB and integrating baseball.
