It didn’t take long in 2025 for the Cincinnati Reds‘ unanswered questions about late-inning relief to crystallize. The harsh reality just happened to dawn on the viewing public on the biggest day of the Cincinnati sports calendar.

In Game No. 1, the Reds needed a save to preserve the 3-2 lead put forth by starting pitcher Hunter Greene and a gritty offensive showing. What the club received instead was three solid innings of relief when four were required, and an eventual 6-4 Opening Day loss to the San Francisco Giants at Great American Ball Park.

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Reds Opening Day Cincinnati Reds fall to San Francisco Giants on Opening Day, 6-4

The responsibility to close out what might have been a 3-2 win fell to Ian Gibaut, and he allowed four two-out runs in the ninth inning. A Wilmer Flores three-run homer put the Giants ahead for good.

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Following a spring training camp that left the club’s closer situation an open question, the blown save undid what could have been a victory to mark Terry Francona’s managerial debut in Cincinnati. The game also highlighted the attributes that should make this Reds team entertaining, and maybe even a winner. But in the end, they were reminded that they’re still feeling out how best to handle their situation at the closer spot.

A crucial fourth inning at-bat changed the game

The Reds had scrapped for three runs against Giants ace and 2024 All-Star, Logan Webb. For eight innings, Cincinnati also admirably held back San Francisco’s bats even though Greene admittedly didn’t have his best stuff.

Greene’s overpowering fastball was there, but his secondary pitches weren’t, he said. That was still good enough for five innings of two-run ball.

The major blight on his pitching line was was a two-run homer in the fourth inning against Heliot Ramos.

The Ramos home run, and the 11 pitches that Greene spent in the at-bat, proved vital to Cincinnati’s late-inning pitching calculus. Greene returned for the fifth inning and encountered minimal problems, but the toll of the Ramos at-bat drove up his pitch count and meant his day was done after five innings, Francona explained afterward.

“I give their guy (Ramos) credit, man,” Francona said. “He had a good at-bat and then (after) about his seventh foul ball, he hit that ball to right for the two-run home run, which was huge not only for the scoreboard but (not) allowing us to maybe send Hunter out for another inning.”

Cincinnati relievers Scott Barlow, Emilio Pagan and Tony Santillan powered through the sixth, seventh and eighth innings, respectively.

The ninth inning went sideways. An effective, efficient day of pitching ended with the Reds one out short of a win.

Alexis Diaz isn’t coming to the rescue for the foreseeable future. A 2023 All-Star for his work as Reds closer in the first half of that year, Diaz is on the injured list. His pitching prior to his IL designation was shaky, too.

In the interim, the rest of the Reds bullpen will be tasked with nailing down games. Included in that mix are pitchers with closer and other high-leverage experience, but a group effort will be required. On Thursday before a crowd of 43,876, Gibaut recorded two outs before he was relieved by Sam Moll.

Patrick Bailey hit a game-tying single with two outs, and Flores followed that with a no-doubt, three-run homer to left field.

Gibaut left an 84.9 mph sweeper over the plate to Flores.

“Right down the middle,” Gibaut said. “Need to execute better, and that’s that, really.”

Francona on Wednesday indicated he was just as concerned with getting to the ninth inning as he was with the last three outs. How the relievers were deployed Thursday speaks to that.

Gibaut ended up facing the Giants hitters in the Nos. 2-6 spots in their order. But just to get to that point, Barlow and Pagan, who both have back-end bullpen experience, were already used facing the same six batters in the sixth and seventh innings. Santillan, another could-be closer, got the Reds through the eighth inning by facing the minimum and striking out two.

Collectively, those three pitchers handled the Giants, retiring all nine batters they faced. And it left Gibaut as the best, next option on Opening Day.

Speaking Wednesday, Francona said he was still feeling the bullpen out and leaning on pitching coach Derek Johnson for insights on the staff in some cases.

“I think we’re gonna be OK,” Francona said. “I think we’re going to have to grow into some roles.”

Opening Day gets outsized scrutiny, and can serve as a false deadline for things injuries, as well as defining bullpen roles. The season wasn’t going to be won or lost regardless of Thursday’s outcome. And Gibaut, a non-roster invitee to spring camp, earned his appearance in Thursday’s game via a solid showing over 11 Cactus League games.

Taken together, all the circumstances of the Opening Day loss still only amount to an 0-1 record for Cincinnati. The Reds have 161 games left to make corrections.