Phillies offense AWOL in 1-0 shutout loss to Reds
The Reds beat the Phillies 1-0 on Wednesday afternoon, with the only offense coming in the bottom of the 9th inning when Jose Barrero hit a walk-off RBI single for Cincinnati avoiding the series sweep.
Reds (46-70) Beat Phillies (65-52)
- Winning Pitcher:Â Alexis Diaz (4-1, 1.75)
- Losing Pitcher:Â Seranthony Dominguez (6-4, 1.64)
- Save: n/a
Well, that was not exactly what we had in mind for the Phils with the series sweep over a shitty Reds team so close at hand.
Reds top prospect and gangly left hander, Nick Lodolo effectively shut down the Phillies offense today as the rookie allowed no runs and only 5 hits over 7 innings of work. Lodolo, who stands 6’6 ft tall, utilized his wonky delivery to confuse the entire lineup including the right handed batters stacked toward the top by manager Rob Thompson.
Phillies hitters struck out a combined 11 times, left 6 men on base, and were 0-4 with runners in scoring position albeit over a limited number of opportunities.
Seranthony Dominguez entered the 9th inning and quickly struck out the lead off hitter for the first out. But Dominguez then issued a walk to Albert Almora Jr. and allowed a 2-out single to Alejo Lopez pushing the go-ahead runner into scoring position.
Dominguez who entered the day with a stellar 1.45 ERA in all sorts of relief situations, allowed his second 2-out base hit of the game to Jose Barrero for an RBI single, which walked it off for the Reds and avoided the home sweep.
The only bright note for the Phils today was the continued excellence of starting pitcher Ranger Suarez who lowered his ERA in August to 2.92 after allowing no earned runs over 16 innings in the month of July. Suarez was sharp over 7 innings, allowing only 3 hits and striking out 8 Reds hitters while walking 2.
It’s an encouraging sign for a team that will need its pitchers not named Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola to perform at a high level down the stretch if they are to break the National League’s longest postseason drought.
In other good news it appears Phillies outfielder Brandon Marsh avoided a more serious season ending injury when he hurt his knee in the 3rd inning of Tuesday night’s contest. Marsh was an instant upgrade over the garbage the Phils had been running out to center field every night this season and depending on whether or not an MRI shows structural damage could avoid a trip to the IL altogether.
Bring on the Mets!
Ranger Suarez notches his first strikeout of the afternoon by punching out Jonathan India in the 1st inning.
Future gold glove third basemen Alec Bohm make a great play at the hot corner to steal a base hit away from Aquino.
Jean Segura make a fantastic diving play in the 4th inning to rob Albert Almora Jr of a base hit.
Jose Barrero drives a single into right field off Seranthony Dominguez allowing a runner to score from second base and walking it off for the Reds to avoid the sweep at the hands of the Phils. Bummer.
Reds win 1-0.
Up Next for the Phillies
The Phillies have a scheduled off day on Thursday before hosting the New York Mets for a three game weekend series at Citizens Bank Park.
Aaron Nola (8-9, 3.07) will toe the rubber facing off against Nick Lodolo (10-7, 3.27) with the first pitch scheduled for 7:05 pm.
NBC Sports Philadelphia will carry the broadcast of the game.
Mandatory Photo Credit: Philadelphia Phillies
