Coming off a three-game sweep in Pittsburgh against their cross-state rivals, the Phillies entered their three-game home series against the Cincinnati Reds having gone 15-4 since Don Mattingly took over as interim manager.
After an abysmal start to the season, Philadelphia has seemingly revived its year and quickly emerged as one of the hottest, and most talked-about, teams in MLB. With that, let’s recap the three-game series against the Reds at Citizens Bank Park.
Despite the scorching heat across the Philadelphia area, more than 40,000 fans filled Citizens Bank Park on Monday night to watch the surging Phillies take on the Reds and they were not disappointed.
Philadelphia grabbed a 2-0 lead in the opening inning before Cincinnati answered with two runs in the second off rookie right-hander Andrew Painter. Even so, it marked another encouraging step for the highly touted rookie. Painter settled down after the second inning and turned in the first quality start of his career, allowing just two runs on three hits across six innings.
The performance continued an encouraging trend for Painter, who appears to be finding his rhythm at the major league level. Over his last two starts, he has surrendered just three runs on seven hits and two walks over 11 innings. That is a significant turnaround from his rough May 7 outing against the Athletics, when he allowed eight runs in fewer than four innings.
“Really good,” Mattingly said when asked about Painter’s performance.
Offensively, Alec Bohm and Bryson Stott delivered the biggest swings of the night. Bohm crushed a solo homer in the sixth inning to briefly put the Phillies ahead, while Stott came through with the decisive blow, a two run shot with two outs in the eighth inning that ultimately proved to be the game winner.
It was another encouraging performance for Bohm, who has been swinging a hot bat since May 1. Over that 15 game stretch, he is hitting .345 with three doubles, three home runs, and eight RBIs. The recent surge marks a dramatic turnaround from his first 29 games of the season, when he batted just .151 with one homer, three doubles, and 13 RBIs.
Final score: Phillies 5, Reds 4.
On Tuesday night, Jesús Luzardo delivered another solid start for the Phillies, working six innings while allowing two runs on five hits. He walked one, struck out five, and threw 95 pitches. He handed the ball over trailing just 2-1, but the bullpen couldn’t keep it there as the Reds added insurance runs late in a 4-1 Cincinnati victory.
Overall, the Phillies’ offense couldn’t get much going against the Reds’ pitching staff. Starter Chase Burns came in with the second-lowest ERA in the National League, just behind Cristopher Sánchez, and he showed exactly why. The hard-throwing righty tossed six strong innings, allowing one run on three hits with nine strikeouts and no walks. His fastball sat at 98.4 mph, and Philadelphia hitters had trouble catching up all evening. The only real damage came on Trea Turner’s solo homer in the third. Burns has now given up two or fewer runs in nine of his 10 starts this season. The Phillies have been swinging the bats well lately, but on Tuesday they simply ran into a dominant pitching performance.
With the series tied at one game apiece, the Phillies hoped to rebound on Wednesday afternoon. The game was completed before the rain arrived, but the result was not what Philadelphia wanted. The Phillies fell 9-4 to the Reds in the series finale, ending their six-series winning streak under Mattingly.
After consecutive losses, Philadelphia dropped back to the .500 mark at 25-25 through 50 games.
Aaron Nola took the loss but felt encouraged by the outing, especially with how well he was filling up the strike zone. In five innings, he allowed eight hits and four earned runs while walking none, striking out five, and not giving up a homer. “I felt better today,” Nola said. “I felt better today, missed some balls over the plate and they capitalized on them. Tough one, again.” His ERA now sits at 6.04.
With Kyle Schwarber missing his third straight game due to stomach issues, the Phillies’ offense showed a bit more life than Tuesday night but still fell short of the standard fans have come to expect lately. Bohm stayed hot with another home run, and Edmundo Sosa, who started at third, also went deep.
The Phillies trailed 5-4 after six innings, but the Reds tacked on two insurance runs in the seventh and two more in the ninth. Cincinnati racked up 15 hits on the afternoon.
It was a tough series loss for the Phillies, but there’s still plenty to feel good about moving forward. The team will now host the Cleveland Guardians for a three-game set starting this Friday, with Sánchez slated to take the mound in the opener.
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