TJ Friedl honked a mighty 2-run dinger in the Bottom of the 6th inning to lead the Cincinnati Reds past the Tampa Bay Rays by the score of 7-2 on Friday in Great American Ball Park.

Tyler Stephenson (8th home run) and TJ Friedl (10th) went deep in this game. Rays starting pitcher Zack Littell (8-8, 3.72 ERA) came into this game having allowed the most home runs in the major leagues and that continued.

Trade Deadline winds are blowing stronger with moves starting to happen around Major League Baseball the past couple of days. For the Reds, the time is ripe for catching a breeze to both stay in the postseason hunt and position themselves for dealing before Thursday.

Tyler Stephenson hit his eighth home run of 2025 and T.J. Friedl put the game out of reach with his 10th homer of the campaign, a two-run shot, as the Reds took their series opener from the Tampa Bay Rays, 7-2, at Great American Ball Park on July 25 before a crowd of 30,110.

Tyler Stephenson homered and drove in three runs and Nick Martinez struck out five in five innings as the Cincinnati Reds beat the Tampa Bay Rays 7-2.

Trade Deadline winds are blowing stronger with moves starting to happen around Major League Baseball the past couple of days. For the Reds, the time is ripe for catching a breeze to both stay in the postseason hunt and position themselves for dealing before Thursday.

The Tampa Bay Rays (53-50) and Cincinnati Reds (53-50) open a 3-game series Friday. First pitch from Great American Ball Park is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. ET. Let's analyze BetMGM Sportsbook's MLB odds around the Rays vs. Reds odds and make our expert MLB picks and predictions for the best bets.

The managers became close when Cash played for the Red Sox, and they keep trying to one-up each other with pregame hijinks.

What's in the weather forecast for the Cincinnati Reds vs. Tampa Bay Rays games and the Cincinnati Music Festival at Paycor Stadium?

Workers have some finishing touches to put on the field inside the racetrack at Bristol Motor Speedway, where officials are expecting a record crowd to watch the Cincinnati Reds play the Atlanta Braves in the MLB Speedway Classic next Saturday.