The Cincinnati Reds escaped with a 5-3 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Opening Day. The game featured two home runs from unlikely sources, a dominant pitching performance from both starters, and a 12-pitch at-bat to end the game. What were the three biggest takeaways from Thursday’s victory?
David Bell got his first victory as a manager and rolled the dice on a few different occasions. Some decisions were questionable while other paid huge dividends. Bell went to right-handed veteran David Hernández late in the game and after a long battle with Corey Dickerson, Hernandez induced a ground ball to José Peraza to end the game.