KSReds: Cincinnati Reds Split 4-Game Series With Phillies

After trading Saturday’s blowout win for a blowout loss on Sunday, the Cincinnati Reds came away with a four-game series split against the Philadelphia Phillies.

As will likely be the case much of this season, the Reds won with Nick Lodolo and Graham Ashcraft on the mound. However, those guys can’t pitch every day. Both Connor Overton and Luis Cessa struggled mightily in their two turns of the rotation. Finding some semblance of a fourth and fifth starter will be critical if there are hopes of being competitive this season.

Now sitting at 6-9 on the season, the Reds will stay at home for three-game series against the 14-2 Tampa Bay Rays. Hunter Greene is scheduled to take the ball on Monday night for a 6:40 p.m. EST first pitch. Lodolo will pitch on Tuesday night and Wednesday’s getaway day starter is yet to be determined.

Nick Lodolo Moves to 2-0 in Reds Win

It has been a sensational start to the season for Nick Lodolo. The young left-hander actually had his “worst” outing of the year on Thursday night, but still gave the Cincinnati Reds enough to earn a victory. He pitched five innings while allowing two runs on eight hits and striking out six. On the season he is now 2-0 with a 2.12 earned run average and 27 strikeouts in 17 innings pitched.

In a somewhat surprising turn of events, the Reds bullpen was even better behind Lodolo than he was at the start. Alex Young turned in two perfect innings in the sixth and seventh. Then, things got a little hairy as Derek Law allowed a hit and walk in his second inning of work. However, Alexis Diaz came in and struck out the final batter to earn his second save of the year. The Reds would win game one, 6-2.

At the plate, the bats got going in the bottom of the third to build a 4-1 advantage. Spencer Steer had a RBI single, Tyler Stephenson drove in a run, and Wil Myers singled home a run as well. Myers would add a second RBI in the fifth inning to put a bow on a 2-4, two RBI day.

Phillies Score Five Early and Cruise to Victory

Connor Overton simply didn’t have it on Friday evening. In just three innings of work, he allowed five runs on five hits and walked three more. The Phillies were hitting the ball all around Great American Ball Park as Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos doubled, Brandon Marsh tripled, and Edmundo Sosa hit a homer off of Overton in the first three innings of play.

A couple of late runs driven in by Jonathan India weren’t enough to get the Cincinnati Reds back in the game. Philadelphia added three runs in the ninth off of Fernando Cruz to set the eventual final score of 8-3 to even up the series after two games.

The Wil Myers Game

Saturday evening’s game belonged to Wil Myers. The veteran went deep in each of his first two at-bats to spot the Cincinnati Reds a 4-0 lead. He hit a 406-foot solo shot in the bottom of the second followed by a 401-foot three-run bomb in the third. Then, in the bottom of fifth, Myers doubled in another run. When it was all over, he finished 4-5 at the plate with two home runs, a double, and five runs batted in.

In total, the Reds would score 13 runs on 14 hits on their way to a 13-0 blowout victory against the Phillies in game three. Only Spencer Steer failed to record a hit while both Jonathan India and Jason Vosler joined Myers with multi-hit nights.

On the mound, Graham Ashcraft was excellent once again. He moved to 2-0 on the season by dealing six innings of four-hit, shutout baseball. The 25-year-old’s earned run average is now down to 1.42. Buck Farmer and Casey Legumina finished off the shutout for Cincinnati.

Reds Blown Out, Split Series

Less than 24 hours after the Cincinnati Reds put a 13-0 beatdown on the Phillies, they would have the favor returned right back to them. On Sunday afternoon, Philadelphia put up a nine spot in the first inning alone on their way to a convincing 14-3 win. They would collect 23 total hits on the afternoon.

Luis Cessa allowed 11 runs on 14 hits in his three innings on the mound. The former relief pitcher is now 0-2 with a 13.50 earned run average as a starter this season. Cincinnati’s bullpen wasn’t sharp either allowing three more runs on nine hits before the game mercifully came to an end.

The Reds are now 6-9 on the season. However, they have not been able to win a series since taking two out of three from the Pirates to open the season. Things won’t get any easier either with the 14-2 Tampa Bay Rays coming to Great American Ball Park next.