Reds beat Rangers 5-3 in their 1st road game with 3 homers, the last in the 9th

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Tyler Stephenson hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the ninth inning and the Cincinnati Reds won in their first road game this season, a 5-3 victory to spoil the home opener for the Texas Rangers on Friday.

Spencer Steer and Elly Del La Cruz also homered for the Reds.

Steer opened the ninth with a double off reliever Chris Martin (1-1) before Stephenson lined a full-count pitch into the Rangers' bullpen in right-center for his first homer.

Tony Santillian (1-0), the fourth of five Reds pitchers, pitched a perfect eighth inning. Emilio Pagán worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his second save.

The Rangers played their first home game for new manager Skip Schumaker after taking two of three games in series at Philadelphia and Baltimore. The last time they played six games before their home opener was 2008.

Steer's two-run homer in the second and De La Cruz going deep to lead off the sixth both came off MacKenzie Gore, the All-Star left-hander that came to Texas from Washington in January in a trade for five prospects. It was the third homer, all solo shots, for De La Cruz this season.

Gore struck out nine without a walk while allowing those three runs over six innings in his first home start.

Texas got even at 2 in the bottom of the second on No. 9 batter Danny Jansen's double under the the glove of diving left fielder Steer off Brady Singer, the Reds starter who struck out five and walked one while pitching into the sixth.

Brandon Nimmo had a one-out triple in the Texas seventh before Wyatt Langford's RBI double for a 3-3 tie.

Reds right-hander Rhett Lowder, still a rookie after making his MLB debut in 2024 and then missing all of 2025 because of forearm and oblique strains, makes his second start this season Saturday. Rangers right-hander Kumar Rocker, their No. 5 starter, makes his season debut.

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Texas Rangers starting pitcher MacKenzie Gore throws a pitch to the Cincinnati Reds during the second inning of the Rangers' home-opener baseball game Friday, April 3, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Cincinnati Reds pitcher Emilio Pagán, left, and catcher Tyler Stephenson react after their team defeated the Texas Rangers 5-3 during the Rangers' home-opener baseball game Friday, April 3, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Texas Rangers starting pitcher MacKenzie Gore, left, looks on as Cincinnati Reds' Spencer Steer, right, runs the bases after hitting a two-run home run off him during the second inning of the Rangers' home-opener baseball game Friday, April 3, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Cincinnati Reds left fielder Spencer Steer makes a diving attempt on a two-run double by Texas Rangers catcher Danny Jansen during the second inning of the Rangers' home-opener baseball game Friday, April 3, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Cincinnati Reds' Tyler Stephenson reacts after hitting a two-run home run off Texas Rangers pitcher Chris Martin during the ninth inning of the Rangers' home-opener baseball game Friday, April 3, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

President Donald Trump tried to put some teeth into his latest attempt to save college sports.

The threat of cutting funding to cash-starved schools that don’t comply is real, even if the stricter rules that come out of the executive order he signed Friday could take a while to figure out.

In the order signed hours before the women’s Final Four tipped off one of the biggest weekends in college sports Trump went after eligibility rules, transfers and the spiraling costs associated with an industry that now pays its players millions of dollars per year.

He called on federal agencies to ensure schools are following the rules and threatened to choke off federal grants and funding, a similar approach his administration has taken to force universities around the country to alter policies involving diversity, equity and inclusion, transgender rights and even the kinds of classes they offer.

In some ways, forcing those changes might seem like child’s play once college sports figures this out. The NCAA, the newly created College Sports Commission, the four power conferences, dozens more smaller ones and hundreds of educational institutions all have a say here: It’s a big reason Congress, which Trump instructed to act quickly, has been stuck for more than a year on this.

Trump’s order was his second since one last July and it was a laundry list of proposed fixes, many of which lawmakers and college leaders have been pushing for since the approval of a $2.8 billion settlement changed the face of games that were once played by pure amateurs.

He called for “clear, consistent and fair eligibility limits, including a five-year participation window," and wants to limit athletes to one transfer with one more available once they get a four-year degree.

At a college sports roundtable last month, Trump said he anticipated any order he signed would trigger litigation. Athletes have largely won the freedom to transfer almost at will via the portal along with the ability to be paid by schools that are now doling out more than $20 million a year to their athletes.

As much as the changes he directs, Trump’s call for the Education Department, the Federal Trade Commission and the attorney general’s office to evaluate “whether violations of such rules render a university unfit for Federal grants and contracts” stands out as a way to force change.

Several universities across the country have made policy changes to comply with federal orders and avoid funding-related showdowns with the government. Yet big-named schools like Penn State and Florida State are facing huge debts.

“I haven’t read it, obviously, but I certainly appreciate his interest in the issue," NCAA President Charlie Baker said at the women's Final Four in Phoenix. "And from what I saw, some of the social media traffic, it’s pretty clear that he made clear that we need congressional action to sort of seal the deal on a number of these things, which is good, because we do.”

ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips praised the president's order, saying “there continues to be significant momentum to preserve the athletic and academic opportunities for the next generation of student-athletes and we appreciate the ongoing efforts.”

Attorney Mit Winter, who follows college sports law, said the order is likely to set up a situation where the NCAA and schools have to decide whether to follow a federal court order or an executive order.

“Federal court orders prohibit the NCAA from making athletes sit out a season if they transfer more than once and prohibit the NCAA from enforcing rules that limit collectives from being involved in recruiting,” he said. "The EO appears to direct the NCAA to create rules that would likely violate both of these court orders. Will the NCAA create rules that do that? And if they do, will schools follow them?

"Either way, we’re likely going to see litigation challenging the EO by athletes and third parties.”

Winter added that the order also appears to urge schools to pay new revenue share amounts.

“Most schools are paying 90-95% of their rev-share funds to men's basketball and football players,” he said. "And those funds are already promised via contracts signed with those athletes. Will the order purport to make schools not adhere to those contracts?”

AP Sports Writers Maura Carey, David Brandt and Eric Olson contributed.

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President Donald Trump pauses as he finishes speaking about the Iran war from the Cross Hall of the White House on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)