T.J. Zeuch gave up six runs before the 3rd inning was over and the Cincinnati Reds had to try and come back from a big deficit. They made an effort and had the tying runs on base in the top of the 9th but couldn’t quite complete the rally as they dropped their third game in a row to the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday night by a score of 7-5.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Reds (48-74) |
5 | 10 | 1 |
| Philadelphia Phillies (69-55) |
7 | 15 | 1 |
| W: Sanchez (2-1) L: Zeuch (0-3) SV: Robertson (18) |
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| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
The Offense
Cincinnati grabbed an early lead in the top of the 2nd inning when Stuart Fairchild crushed a 410-foot solo home run to center. The Phillies scored six runs over the next two innings to take the lead. In the 4th inning Kyle Farmer pulled the game a little closer with a solo homer of his own. In the 5th inning Chuckie Robinson picked up a 1-out single, which was the first hit of his career. He came around to score on the next play with Jonathan India double to center to make it 6-3. India, though, followed up by running himself into an out on a ground ball to third base where he was tagged out by Alec Bohm after he fielded the ball.
The Reds offense didn’t score in the 6th, but they got on the board in the 7th inning when Jose Barrero singled and came around to score after a Jake Fraley doubled moved him to third and a sacrifice fly from TJ Friedl – who was pinch hitting for Jonathan India – brought Barrero in to score to make it 6-4. After Philadelphia got that run back in the bottom of the inning, Cincinnati went back to work. Donovan Solano singled to start the inning, but he was erased on a fielders choice that put Aristides Aquino on first. Aquino would score on an Alejo Lopez double to make it a 7-5 game.
The Reds got some help from the Phillies in the 9th. Jake Fraley hit a routine fly ball into left field, but Yairo Munoz watched the ball pop out of his glove and Fraley wound up at second base. He moved up to third base on a wild pitch. Nick Senzel would draw a 1-out walk to put runners on the corners, but Kyle Farmer hit the second pitch of his at-bat right to Alec Bohm at third who fired to second before Jean Segura turned and threw over to first to complete a game ending double play.
The Pitching
T.J. Zeuch was given another opportunity to make a good impression after being hit around in his first two starts this season in the big leagues. A good impression it wasn’t. Zeuch loaded the the bases in each of the first three innings and couldn’t get out of the 3rd inning before exiting the game. He wound up being charged with six earned runs in 2.2 innings on seven hits, a hit batter, and four walks. His ERA through three starts this year is 15.19.
The bullpen did all that they could to hold the Phillies down from there. Art Warren and Joel Kuhnel each tossed 1.1 shutout innings to follow. Reiver Sanmartin ran into some trouble in the 7th inning and he gave up a run that made it 7-4, but it would have been worse if not for the arm of Aristides Aquino, who fired a bullet from the warning track to the plate to nail Rhys Hoskins at the plate to end the inning.
10 outfield assists for @Aristide_Aquino! pic.twitter.com/FvbAs81Ycy
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) August 25, 2022
That wouldn’t be the last nice defensive play from Aristides Aquino, either, as he made a nice sliding catch to end the 8th inning, too, giving Ross Detwiler a shutout inning and keeping the score at 7-5 and giving the offense one more shot to try and make a comeback. They would make an attempt but come up short as the Phillies grabbed their third win in as many days over the Reds.
Notes Worth Noting
ARISTIDES AQUINO
99.0 mph assist!
That’s the Reds’ 4th-fastest tracked OF assist tracked by Statcast (since 2015), trailing only…3 OTHER ASSISTS BY AQUINO *THIS YEAR*
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) August 25, 2022
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds vs Philadelphia Phillies
Thursday August 25th, 7:05pm ET
Justin Dunn (1-1, 6.08 ERA) vs Aaron Nola (8-10, 3.25 ERA)
