For Kevin Kiermaier and other Rays, Cincinnati has memories

CINCINNATI — The question about his last trip to Cincinnati was still being asked, but Kevin Kiermaier was ready with the answer.

“April 12, 2014, you don’t have to tell me. I remember that day,” he said excitedly. “Of course I do. That is one I’ll never forget.”

It was the last time the Rays centerfielder was in the Queen City, and it turned out to be the start of something special.

Kiermaier technically had made his major-league debut at the end of the previous season, called up to be a defensive replacement in the Game 163 play-in contest at Texas and AL Wild Card Game at Cleveland in 2013.

He was summoned to Cincinnati in mid-April, just for a couple of days. But the then-23-year-old got to make his first major-league start with his parents, a brother and a bunch of buddies who traveled from Indiana in the stands. “It was just an awesome day,” Kiermaier said.

Even more memorable, he made the play of the game, throwing out Joey Votto at the plate in the fourth inning to preserve the lead in a 1-0 Rays win, the first of what now are a franchise record-tying 52 assists. The headline in the next day’s Tampa Bay Times read, “Rookie’s rifle rescues Rays.”

“I told him we won that game because of what he did,” then-manager Joe Maddon said after the game. “That’s the play of the game. That’s the play of the season so far.”

Kiermaier, who returned to the majors to stay in May 2014, was in the Fenway Park batting cage before Wednesday’s game in Boston when he realized the full-circle moment awaiting him in Cincinnati.

“I was, like, man, that was my first career start there,” he said. “How my life has changed so much since I’ve been there. And it’s crazy to think how I remember so much about that day.”

For example, what his father, Jim, wore to the game at Great American Ball Park.

“My dad put on my freakin’ jersey from my debut the year before, No. 41,” Kiermaier said. “I had it at my house, and he thought it would be a good idea. He comes down the (stadium) steps, and I saw it had mustard on it. I wanted to kill him.

“For one, my dad’s a big boy, and my jerseys aren’t huge, so it did not look good on him. For two, the first thing I saw was the mustard. My mom came down to give me a hug while I was stretching and I said, ‘Mom, what is dad wearing?’ She’s like, ‘I told him not to.’”

Though he was upset at the time, Kiermaier now finds the incident funny.

”Everything ended up working out,” he said, “and I had a great time.”

The Rays had taken the lead on a second inning homer by James Loney. Votto (who is still with the Reds) doubled off Alex Cobb to open the fourth. Brandon Phillips ground a single up the middle, Kiermaier charged aggressively and fired to the plate so hard, catcher Ryan Hanigan had plenty of time to make the tag.

“That was my first assist,” Kiermaier said. “Now, my next assist will be the team record (breaking a tie with BJ Upton). Maybe I’ll do it in Cincy. You know how baseball works — for sure I’m doing it. Mark it down right now.”

Victim of circumstance

Chad Mottola would prefer his return to Cincinnati went unnoticed.

That’s because the Rays’ sixth-year hitting coach had a major role — and not a good one — in Reds history. And while it ultimately was his fault, it wasn’t his doing.

Mottola was one of the top prospects in the 1992 draft, a power-hitting outfielder from UCF. He had serious talks with the Astros about being the No. 1 overall pick, but they opted for Phil Nevin instead. Mottola also had agreed to a pre-draft deal with the Reds, who took him with the No. 5 pick.

The problem was that the Yankees took Derek Jeter next.

Mottola was called up by the Reds in 1996 and served four stints, hitting .215 with three homers and six RBIs in 35 games. It was the most extensive major-league action he would get in a 16-year pro career spent primarily at the Triple-A level.

“I don’t want to blame anybody but myself, but there’s things that happened within that organization that I know that could have been handled better,” Mottola said. “Obviously, I could have done better, as well. I seemed to do great as soon as I left there, and a lot of things factored in that.

“But as I look back, now it’s an honor. I don’t know if it was an honor while I was playing and going through struggles, but it’s a pretty special thing to do.”

The Reds gave up on Mottola and traded him to Texas before the 1998 season. This will be his first time back in Cincinnati, having spent his time playing at the old Riverfront Stadium.

“I’m sure there’s still people that have hard feelings,” Mottola said. “I’ll try to fly under the radar. Put it this way — I won’t be eating free anywhere.”

Mound turn

Rays manager Kevin Cash had one of the more memorable days of his eight-year big-league playing career in Cincinnati, and it had nothing to do with catching or hitting (he went 0-for-11 in five games).

Cash was the backup catcher for the 2010 Astros, and in the eighth inning of a May 28 blowout loss he was summoned to pitch for the first and only time.

He did okay, retiring Drew Stubbs on a pop-up, then allowing a run on three straight hits — Hanigan, Drew Sutton and Ramon Hernandez — before retiring Miguel Cairo on a groundout and Phillips on a flyout.

“I gave up a run but threw strikes,” he said. “And without the entertainment.”

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