Cingrani update:
Reds catcher CINCINNATI — Devin Mesoraco took the next step toward normal Wednesday, hitting his first home run of the season and his first since Sept. 23, 2014, his last full healthy season.
Mesoraco was back in the lineup Friday in the series opener against the San Francisco Giants for his third start in the last four games. After appearing in a total of 39 games in 2015 and 2016, Mesoraco is enjoying every moment on the field.
“I really feel this is the first time I’ve been healthy here, even though I’ve played a limited amount the last couple of years,” Mesoraco said. “I don’t have to worry about being healthy or anything. I can just go out there and play ball. It’s definitely a good feeling. There was never any question of whether I would get back. I wasn’t worried about hitting another home run because I knew at some point I would, but it definitely feels good.”
Reliever Tony Cingrani has resumed throwing, but he’s not ready to pitch off a mound yet. He has been on the disabled list since April 21 with a strained right oblique.
“We really want to focus on making sure the soreness is gone,” Reds manager Bryan Price said. “It’s a challenging injury to deal with. The last thing we want to do is have it come back.”
The Reds are 36-24 against the Giants since 2008. No opponent has a better winning percentage against the Giants in that time. That includes the five games in the National League Division Series in 2012 when the Giants rallied from a 2-0 series deficit to beat the Reds in five games.
The first 20,000 fans at the game today receive a Reds Star Wars T-shirt. On Sunday, the Reds will give Billy Hamilton Fathead wall decals to kids
Series history: Weekend highlights: