The Cincinnati Reds put together a 9th inning comeback to take a lead, but Philadelphia took the lead right back in the bottom of the inning and walked the game off with a 7-6 victory. The Phillies now have guaranteed themselves at least a split of the 4-game series after taking the first two games.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Reds (48-73) |
6 | 11 | 1 |
| Philadelphia Phillies (68-55) |
7 | 7 | 1 |
| W: Hand (3-1) L: Diaz (4-2) |
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| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
The Offense
Cincinnati had a threat going in the 2nd inning when Donovan Solano led off the inning with a double but he was stranded there. Not much would happen again until the 6th inning when the game was still scoreless. Jonathan India doubled off of the top of the wall to lead off the inning and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt from Nick Senzel. Kyle Farmer followed up with a walk and then Mike Moustakas singled in the first run of the game. Donovan Solano followed with a single of his own to load the bases. That’s when Aristides Aquino came through with a bases loaded walk to make it 2-0. Jose Barrero would to the same thing two batters later to make it 3-0. After a pitching change the Reds rally ended, but they had a 3-run lead.
After the Phillies rallied to grab the lead in the bottom of the 6th and then extend it in the 7th, the Reds got to work in the 8th. Mike Moustakas led off with a double and he moved up a base on a Donovan Solano bloop single, but Moustakas had to leave the game with a left calf injury (the same calf injury he just recovered from) and was replaced on the bases by Alejo Lopez. Aristides Aquino followed up with a double off of the wall in center to make it a 5-4 game. With two runners in scoring position and no outs the Reds saw Stuart Fairchild, Jose Barrero, and Austin Romine all go down with a strikeout to send the game to the bottom of the 8th with Philadelphia still in front.
In the 9th inning, still trailing by a run, the Reds got a little bit of help. Nick Senzel reached with one out after a throwing error. Kyle Farmer then legged out an infield single to put two men on and the tying run at second base. Alejo Lopez flew out to shallow right field, bringing TJ Friedl to the plate as the last hope, and what a hope it was as Friedl took a 1-1 pitch and crushed a 2-run triple into center to give Cincinnati a 6-5 lead. Aristides Aquino would strike out to end the inning, but the Reds had a lead to hand to their best reliever.
The Pitching
Nick Lodolo was dominating the Phillies for the second straight start. The lefty didn’t give up a hit until the 6th inning when Edmundo Sosa led off with a double, but that was a sign of things to come in the inning. Rhys Hoskins walked and Alex Bohm came through with an RBI single to get Philadelphia on the board. J.T. Realmuto came through with a triple that tied the game up and there was just one out in the inning. At that point David Bell came to the mound and called on Buck Farmer to enter the game with the go-ahead run just 90 feet from the plate.
The first pitch from Farmer was lined into left field for an RBI single by Nick Castellanos and the Phillies grabbed a 4-3 lead. Jean Segura lined one back up the middle and as Farmer turned to avoid it the ball hit him in the butt and bounced over to Mike Moustakas at first who picked it up and stepped on first to record an out. A ground out to Kyle Farmer would end the inning.
Ian Gibaut took over for Cincinnati in the 7th and he gave up a leadoff homer to Matt Vierling as Philadelphia extended their lead to 5-3. Hunter Strickland followed Gibaut, pitching the 8th inning, and he got some help from his defense as both Aristides Aquino and Stuart Fairchild made strong catches in the inning.
After Cincinnati grabbed a 6-5 lead in the top of the 9th the game was turned over to Alexis Diaz. He would walk Jean Segura to lead off the inning before facing pinch hitter Bryson Stott. He doubled off of the top of the wall and Nick Senzel fired the ball in and missed the cutoff man as the ball then trickled around the infield, allowing Jean Segura to sprint home to tie the game and Stott to advance to third base. Diaz would strike Matt Vierling out before facing another pinch hitter in Nick Maton. The move worked for Philadelphia as Maton lined a game-winning single into right field.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds vs Philadelphia Phillies
Wednesday August 24th, 7:05pm ET
TBA vs Cristopher Sanchez (1-1, 3.80 ERA)
