Rays avoid sweep as Nick Martinez delivers 8 strong innings vs. Reds

Marc Topkin, Tampa Bay Times on Apr 22, 2026

Published in Baseball

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TAMPA, Fla. — Nick Martinez delivered a strong eight-inning start and the Tampa Bay Rays offense came back to life for a sweep-avoiding 6-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds Wednesday afternoon at Tropicana Field.

Martinez delivered the Rays’ longest, and one of their best, starts of the season, allowing just the one run with five hits and a walk. He struck out six and threw 71 of his 95 pitches for strikes.

The game provided some additional motivation for Martinez, as he spent the two previous seasons with Cincinnati before signing a one-year deal for a guaranteed $13 million with the Rays right before the opening of spring camp.

After three straight losses, including an ugly 12-6 defeat on Tuesday night, the Rays (13-11) got off to a good start Wednesday, taking a 3-0 lead in the second inning.

That was the first time they scored first in a week and just the fourth over 16 games.

They got started with walks by Ryan Vilade and Jonny DeLuca, and their first run on a single by Ben Williamson off Reds starter Brandon Williamson.

DeLuca went to third on the play and made a bold move to tag up on a fly to shallow right, but it worked as Will Benson made an errant throw. Yandy Diaz’s two-out single made it 3-0.

The Rays added to the lead with single runs in the third (Junior Caminero’s sixth home run), fifth (Vilade RBI single) and seventh (Caminero ground out).

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