Reds outslug Phillies on July 4th, thanks to another Jesus Luzardo disasterclass

The fireworks started early at Citizens Bank Park on Friday, but it was the Cincinnati Reds who lit up the scoreboard to beat the Phillies 9-6 on July Fourth.

Clinging to a 9-6 lead in the eighth with the bases loaded and the crowd ready to explode, Reds reliever Tony Santillan froze Alec Bohm with a 98 mph heater to end the Phillies’ last real threat.

Just like that, a three-hour slugfest turned into a Cincinnati 9-6 win in South Philly.

Jesús Luzardo’s early-season dominance feels like a distant memory

Luzardo lasted just two-plus innings. The lefty was staked to a 3-0 lead after Nick Castellanos launched a two-run shot in the first. But things unraveled fast—he allowed five runs in the third alone, including a two-RBI double by Spencer Steer.

Luzardo gave up six earned in total and dropped to 7-5 on the year. His ERA has ballooned since May. The Reds got production throughout the lineup, finishing with 11 hits. Elly De La Cruz drove in a run in the fourth, and Cincinnati tacked on two more in the fifth to push it to 9-4.

The Phillies are a RISP Nightmare

Phillies had runners on the corners, one out, and Kyle Schwarber at the plate in the fifth. Schwarber hit a chopper back to the mound, the Reds got the force at second, and Edmundo Sosa broke late for home.

Elly De La Cruz threw a strike to the plate to gun him down and kill the rally.

WE'LL TAKE IT! pic.twitter.com/DDIn5CFkSm
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) July 4, 2025

The Phillies kept knocking, piling up 14 hits, but couldn’t cash in when it counted. Alec Bohm’s strikeout with the bases loaded in the eighth summed it up.

Sam Moll earned the win out of the pen. Emilio Pagán notched save No. 19. And Terry Francona is now just four wins away from joining the 2,000-win club.

Up next: LHP Nick Lodolo (5-5, 3.52 ERA) vs. LHP Ranger Suárez (7-2, 2.00 ERA) on Saturday. Phillies will try to bounce back behind their most consistent arm.