Late surge not enough as Red Sox fall 6-5 in extras on Reds walk-off

The Red Sox' second game of the season was a roller coaster ride of emotions from start to finish. By the final out, three storylines rose above the rest and defined the entire game.

The first storyline centered on Sonny Gray, who made his Red Sox debut but never found a rhythm. He struggled with command from the outset and lasted just four innings in an uneven outing.

The second revolved around home plate umpire CB Bucknor, whose inconsistent strike zone drew plenty of frustration, none bigger than a controversial third strike call on a check swing from Trevor Story that led to Alex Cora being ejected.

And finally, the Red Sox offense clawed its way back into the game, tying it 5-5 in the ninth inning on a clutch solo home run from Wilyer Abreu.

Despite the Red Sox chipping away and battling back against a pesky young Reds lineup, it ultimately wasn’t enough, as Boston fell in 11 innings, 6-5. Dane Myers delivered the decisive blow, singling off Justin Slaten to walk it off for Cincinnati at Great American Ball Park.

Circling back to Gray, he struggled from the jump, needing 35 pitches to get through the first inning while facing seven batters and allowing two runs. He ultimately lasted just four innings, finishing with three earned runs, one walk, and five strikeouts. The 36-year-old threw 80 pitches, 51 for strikes.

“They kind of jumped me early, and overall I just don’t feel like I put us in a good position to win the game,” Gray said. “I was just proud to see how everyone continued to fight, and the bullpen did an incredible job. They gave us a chance.”

Story didn’t help matters early on, committing a costly error in the second inning that led to another Cincinnati run. But the veteran shortstop responded in the very next frame, launching his, and Boston’s, first home run of the season.

Story’s solo shot traveled 402 feet off the bat at 109.6 mph, a no-doubt blast that would have left the yard in every ballpark.

Roman Anthony added an RBI single in the fourth inning to cut the deficit to 4–2, and Boston later capitalized on a wild pitch to make it a one-run game at 4–3. Anthony’s early impact has been loud, too—three of his four hits through the first two games have come off the bat at over 100 mph: 112.3 mph, 110.2 mph, and 106.5 mph.

With the Red Sox attempting to claw their way back into the game, Bucknor became a major storyline.

Boston lost its ability to use ABS challenges as early as the third inning after Roman Anthony challenged back-to-back calls and came up empty on the second.

“Just not a good time to challenge; 3-1. I just got too aggressive with it. Can’t happen,” Anthony said.

Earlier, catcher Carlos Narváez had also unsuccessfully used a challenge in an attempt to flip a ball into a strike.

“I think it just goes back to me kind of wasting that second one,” Anthony said. “Can’t happen. And unfortunately you just lose them. And we saw how that worked out. So it’s a lesson. We’ll take it as a lesson. At least I will. Rather it happen now than down the road. But kind of just take that and learn from that and learn from what followed that and hold onto those.”

The Reds also leaned heavily on the ABS system, with Bucknor having six pitches overturned over seven innings.

Bucknor’s inconsistent strike zone came back to haunt the Red Sox again in the eighth, when two clear balls to Marcelo Mayer were ruled strikes, resulting in a leadoff strikeout looking. Later in the frame, Story checked his swing and instead of Bucknor asking for the first base umpire for help, called him out on strikes, inciting a usually calm Story. Cora and coach Jose Flores held back an irate Story and in the process, the Sox skipper was ejected from the game.

“He has one job to do, it’s call balls and strikes,” Cora said. “And it wasn’t his best day.”

The Red Sox bullpen did what it could to navigate a difficult strike zone, but Greg Weissert didn’t help matters, surrendering a leadoff home run to Elly De La Cruz in the fifth.

Rookie Ryan Watson was then called on in the sixth, entering with two runners on and two outs after replacing left-hander Danny Coulombe. Watson issued a walk to cleanup hitter Sal Stewart, who had already gone deep earlier in the game.

The Reds loaded the bases for Eugenio Suárez, who challenged two strike calls during the at-bat—both overturned to balls. Watson ultimately won the battle, getting Suárez to ground out to second to escape the jam. The right-hander returned for the seventh with the Red Sox trailing 5–4 and delivered, tossing scoreless seventh and eighth innings. He finished with three walks and one strikeout across 2 1/3 shutout frames.

“He has two strikeouts and no strikeouts in that inning, right? And showed a lot,” Cora said of the first double-overturn. “After that (inning) he was amazing, he was really good. … He saved us today.”

As the ninth unfolded, Cincinnati was one out away from its first win of the 2026 season, holding a 5–4 lead. But closer Emilio Pagán, attempting a four-out save, surrendered a game-tying solo homer to Abreu.

Reliever Connor Phillips followed and shut the door, delivering perfect 10th and 11th innings with two strikeouts. Mayer and Connor Wong both struck out swinging on pitches out of the zone, while Ceddanne Rafaela flied out to left. 

Phillips faced just five batters over the two frames, aided by a lineout double play off the bat of Trevor Story that erased the automatic runner in the 11th.

In total, Boston stranded 11 runners and went just 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position in a game it never led. Mayer provided a bright spot, opening the season 3-for-3, including a 109.1 mph double in his first at-bat that sailed over the head of Cincinnati’s center fielder.

The Red Sox will look to salvage the series on Sunday afternoon, sending left-hander Connelly Early to the mound opposite rookie right-hander Rhett Lowder.