An early Fourth of July offensive fireworks display rallied the Cincinnati Reds from a 3-0 deficit to outslug the Philadelphia Phillies 9-6 before 42,166 at Citizens Bank Park.
Final R H E Cincinnati Reds (46-42) 9 11 2 Philadelphia Phillies (51-37)
6 14 1 W: Moll (1-0) L: Luzardo (7-5) Sv: Pagan (19)
Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread After falling behind 3-0 in the first inning of the early-afternoon holiday game, Cincinnati responded with one or more runs in their halves of innings two through five to take a lead that they never lost.
The Reds appear likely to remain seven games behind the first-place Cubs in the National League Central Division, because Chicago is playing 52-pickup with the Cards. The Cubs lead St. Louis 11-1 in the eighth as this post goes live. Milwaukee plays later at Miami.
In the Wild-Card standings, the Reds stand one game behind virtually tied San Diego, San Francisco and St. Louis for the third Wild Card berth. A St. Louis loss will drop them out of that three-way virtual tie, pending later results.
The Offense
Reds’ bats went boom: composite batting line: 11-for-35 (.314), five walks, 12 strikeouts, and nine runs. With runners in scoring position, Cincinnati hitters batted a glorious 6-for-12.
Trailing 3-0 after the first inning, Cincinnati scored a run in the second thanks to some help from the Phillies and good fortune. Spencer Steer drew a walk, Tyler Stephenson singled, and Noelvi Marte walked. With the bases loaded and one out, Rece Hinds grounded one back to the mound. Phillies starter Jesus Luzardo threw home for the force, but catcher J.T. Realmuto’s throw to first hit Hinds in the shoulder and bounced into right field, allowing Stephenson to score. The replay showed Hinds running inside the line to first base, which normally is supposed to be an out via runner interference. But there was no challenge.
The comeback blazed on in the third. T.J. Friedl led off with a bunt base hit, Matt McLain walked, and Elly De La Cruz lined a single to right to score Friedl and bring the Reds within 3-2 with still nobody out. Austin Hays launched one off the wall in right for a double, scoring McLain and sending De La Cruz to third. Steer followed with a rocket to left for a double that scored both baserunners and put the visitors up 5-3. Stephenson followed with a single to right that moved Steer to third, and that was the end of the day for Luzardo. Righthander Joe Ross came on to surrender a Marte sacrifice fly to make the score 6-3. A Hinds double play grounder ended the five-run half-inning.
It continued in the fourth against Ross. Santiago Espinal opened with a single to center, and Friedl followed with the same to move Espinal to third. McLain struck out, but De La Cruz singled to score Espinal and make it 7-4. A Hays double-play grounder ended the inning.
In the fifth, Steer opened with a single, and Stephenson walked. Marte’s fly to deep right moved Steer to third. Pinch-hitter Will Benson singled to right, scoring Steer for an 8-4 Reds lead. Espinal then grounded one into left that scored Stephenson for 9-4, but for reasons unknown, Benson broke back to first base after running on the pitch. The play turned into a force-out instead of a hit, even though the run scored.
In a day of offensive stars, Steer reached base four times on two hits and two walks, with two RBI. He’s now hitting .256 with an OPS of .726 — numbers that seem to be in a constant state of improvement over the past three weeks or so. Friedl, De La Cruz and Stephenson each also recorded two hits.
The Pitching
Reds pitchers’ combined box score line: 9 innings, 14 hits, 2 walks, 6 strikeouts and 6 earned runs.
Starter Andrew Abbott had a difficult first inning, allowing three runs on four hits, including a Nick Castellanos two-run homer. Very early on, today became only the second time this year Abbott has allowed more than one run in a starting outing.
After the Reds offense scored five runs in the top of the third, Abbott surrendered three straight Philadelphia hits to open the bottom of the third to load the bases with none out. But unlike Luzardo in the previous half-inning, Abbott limited the damage to only one run on a fielder’s choice groundout by Castellanos.
Philly opened the fourth with two straight hits, and after a Trey Turner popup, Manager Terry Francona made a pitching change, calling upon lefthander Sam Moll. Kyle Schwarber grounded back to Moll, who held Edmundo Sosa at third, then threw to second to get the force on Johan Rojas. Sosa then broke to the play, and a laser De La Cruz throw got him at the plate on Stephenson’s tag. It was an unusual 1-6-2 double play.
Abbott’s line: 3 1/3 innings, nine hits, two strikeouts and four runs.
Including the double play, Moll recorded four outs on six pitches bridging into the fifth. With two out, a Marte fielding error at third extended the inning for Realmuto, who struck out swinging against Lyon Richardson.
Philly scored twice in the sixth. Two runners Richardson allowed to reach scored when Taylor Rogers allowed a Schwarber double. But Rogers struck out Bryce Harper to quell any further scoring. and leave the score at 9-6 Reds.
Scott Barlow entered in the seventh to face three righthanded batters, and held the Phillies scoreless.
Tony Santillan came on in the eighth. Facing Alec Bohm representing the go-ahead run, he struck out Philly’s cleanup hitter looking.
Emilio Pagan finished things up in the bottom of the ninth.
Moll got credit for the victory, and he has looked very sharp and effective since his recall from Class AAA Louisville.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds at Philadelphia Phillies
Saturday, July 5, 4:05 p.m. ET
Nick Lodolo (5-5, 3.52 ERA) vs. Ranger Suarez (7-2, 2.00 ERA)
