The Cincinnati Reds turned Wednesday night at Great American Ball Park into a full-blown power show, blasting five home runs in an 11-5 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.
It was the kind of game that can erase a shaky start in a hurry. Chase Burns never really settled in, even though he opened by getting Kyle Schwarber to strike out on a foul tip off a 91 mph slider to end the first inning.
From there, though, the Phillies kept him working. Burns didn’t miss bats with his fastball, finished with no swing and misses on it, and labored through five innings with six walks and only two strikeouts.
Philadelphia struck first in the second. Gabriel Rincones Jr. and Justin Crawford ripped back-to-back extra base hits with one out, and Crawford later came home on a wild pitch when Burns missed the tag at the plate. That put the Phillies ahead 2-0 and had the feel of one of those nights Cincinnati has seen too often.
Instead, the Reds flipped the game quickly. TJ Friedl made a leaping catch into the wall in front of the power stacks in the top of the third to save a run, and then Cincinnati’s bats woke up in the bottom half. Elly De La Cruz doubled with one out, Sal Stewart followed with an opposite-field homer into the visitors’ bullpen, and just like that the game was tied.
The real avalanche came in the fourth.
Noelvi Marte started it with a homer to left to put the Reds in front. After the Phillies pulled starter Alan Rangel for Tanner Banks, Cincinnati kept pouring it on.
Edwin Arroyo tripled, Friedl bunted into an out, and then De La Cruz drove one into the right-field seats. Stewart came up next and launched his second homer of the night.
JJ Bleday followed immediately with another shot, and the Reds had turned a 2-2 game into a 7-2 lead in one inning.
That barrage made history, too. It was the first time the Reds had hit four home runs in an inning since July 4, 2010, when Brandon Phillips, Jonny Gomes, Corky Miller and Drew Stubbs did it in the seventh inning at Wrigley Field.
The Phillies got one back in the sixth when J.T Realmuto homered off Brock Burke, who had entered after Burns. Burke got through the first two outs quickly, then gave up the blast, but he steadied enough to end the inning in a tense spot. Edmundo Sosa singled, Bryce Harper drew a walk, and Schwarber came to the plate as the tying run before Burke got him to strike out swinging.
Cincinnati answered again in the seventh and buried the game for good. Friedl and De La Cruz drew back-to-back walks, Bleday singled in Friedl, and then Spencer Steer walked to load the bases.
Marte finished the job with a two-out, bases-clearing double that pushed the lead to 11-4. Marte finished 2-for-5 with four RBI and a run scored.
Schwarber added one more swing of the bat in the ninth, homering off Rhett Lowder for his 15th home run at Great American Ball Park to make it 11-5.
Sal Stewart’s night stood out in more ways than one. His 18th and 19th home runs of the season moved him past Frank Robinson for the most home runs by a Reds rookie before the All-Star break.
The offensive numbers told the story all by themselves: the Reds’ first seven hits were all extra-base hits, and their first seven runs came on home runs.
The series continues Thursday, July 10, at 7:10 PM EDT, with Jesús Luzardo (7-4, 3.75 ERA) set to face Brady Singer (3-8, 5.03 ERA).
In Other News...
Reds Fans Can See Where This Former Core Piece Is Headed
Matt McLains season has reached the point where the Reds are making quieter but telling decisions around him. During a recent game against the Phillies, Terry Francona turned to Ivan Johnson in a late spot instead of sticking with McLain, another sign that Cincinnati is trying to squeeze more offense out of a lineup that has not gotten enough from one of its former core pieces.
McLain has already been moved down in the batting order, and the numbers have only deepened the concern about where this is headed. For a club that has fallen from a fast start into last place in the NL Central, every at-bat matters, and the Reds now have to weigh whether a reset is the best way to get McLain back on track before the seasons next roster decisions start to pile up. [Read more 🡒]
Francona Just Sent A Clear Message About Ellys Role
Terry Francona has made the early call on where Elly De La Cruz belongs, and for now it keeps the Reds most electric player right where he has been setting the tone. De La Cruz has been giving Cincinnati plenty to like at the top of the order, with a recent stretch that included hits, walks and stolen bases, the kind of production that can change the feel of an inning before the rest of the lineup even steps in.
Franconas stance matters because the Reds are still sorting out how best to maximize an offense that leans heavily on De La Cruz to spark it. The managers view is that moving him would not improve the lineup as a whole, which leaves Cincinnati with a clear message about how it plans to attack games for now and a strong hint about who it expects to carry the load when the bats get rolling. [Read more 🡒]
Reds Fans Wont Believe Which Core Starter Just Entered Trade Buzz
The Reds rotation has been one of the more stable parts of the roster, but the trade deadline always has a way of turning stability into speculation. MLB insider Jon Morosi raised eyebrows by floating the idea that Cincinnati could listen on Andrew Abbott, a left-hander who has become a familiar part of the staff and still fits neatly into the clubs long-term plans. Even if the notion feels far-fetched, it is the kind of rumor that forces a front office to think about how much pitching depth it really wants to protect.
There are other names in the mix if the Reds decide to explore the market, and Nick Lodolo has quietly made himself harder to ignore with the way he has thrown the ball lately. Brady Singer also stands out as the cleaner deadline fit because of his contract situation, while the return of Hunter Greene has already tightened the rotation picture and pushed other arms into different roles. For Cincinnati, the real question is not whether it has pitching to talk about, but which arm it would be willing to move if the right deal comes along. [Read more 🡒]