Electric: Reds fans win free pizza after 11th strikeout hit on a 9th inning ABS Challenge

The Cincinnati Reds have a promotion where fans win free pizza if the team records 11 strikeouts in a game. Tuesday night they clinched it in the ninth inning on an ABS challenge and the crowd reaction was absolutely electric.

You would have thought they won the World Series. An entire stadium losing its mind over free pizza. That’s beautiful and exactly what baseball should be about.

Reds fans get free pizza in the 9th on an overturned ABS challenge

The Reds have a promotion where fans win free pizza if the team gets 11 strikeouts in a game.

They clinched it in the ninth inning on an ABS challenge and it was electric pic.twitter.com/yVPLmlKEX0

— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) April 29, 2026

Heck yeah brother pic.twitter.com/m9nWzdjlcu

— Shelfy (@RealShelfy) April 29, 2026

This is the kind of stuff that keeps fans engaged during a random Tuesday night game in April. Nobody in that building cared about the standings or the playoff race or the run differential. They cared about strikeout number 11 and whether they were getting free pizza on the way home. That’s a promotion doing exactly what it’s designed to do.

It reminds me of the always-classic Frosty Freeze Out or the Brickin’ For Chicken promotion that the Sixers do.

Those moments where the entire arena gets locked in on something completely unrelated to the actual outcome of the game are some of the best experiences in live sports.

The collective energy of 20,000 people rooting for a missed free throw so they can get a free chicken sandwich is genuinely one of my favorite things about being a sports fan.

Every team should be doing more of this. If I’m the Phillies right now, I’m rolling out a promotion like this immediately. This team is 10-19. The fans have been sitting through some of the most miserable baseball in franchise history for three straight weeks.

Give them something to cheer about even when the team is losing. Tie free Wawa hoagies to a strikeout total. Give away free Chickie’s and Pete’s crab fries if the Phillies turn a triple play.

I don’t care what it is. Give the fans something because right now they’re paying full price to watch a team that has won twice since April 13th and that’s a tough sell without a little incentive.

The Reds figured it out. Free pizza on a ninth-inning ABS challenge. Sometimes the simple ideas are the best ones.

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