CINCINNATI, Ohio – Members of the Ohio State National Championship football team got to take center stage, but couldn’t stick around for the game at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati Wednesday night as the Reds’ second home opener was delayed by rain and went into extra innings.
The 40 team members in attendance were put in charge of holding the giant American flag in center field during the playing of the National Anthem.
The Reds presented head coach Urban Meyer with an oversized check in the amount of $3,000, wqhich is how much the team is donating to the Urban and Shelley Meyer Fund for Cancer Research at the Ohio State University Medical Center.
The players did not get to see any baseball. It was a school night, so they were loaded back on their busses for the trip back to Columbus just minutes before the first pitch and had to wach on TV.
Joey Votto singled home the winning run in the 11th inning to send the Reds to a 5-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates in a four-hour game.
Radhames Liz (0-1), the last reliever left for Pittsburgh, hit Zack Cozart in the back with one out in the 11th. Pinch-hitter Chris Dominguez struck out, and Billy Hamilton walked to bring up Votto, who singled to end the game at 1:46 a.m. local time.
J.J. Hoover (1-0) allowed one single over the last two innings.
The Reds are 2-0 for the first time since 2011, when they won their first five games.