Bryson Stott clutches up in the 8th, Phillies win fifth straight in comeback fashion

The Phillies came back from a one-run deficit in the bottom of the eighth inning Monday night at Citizens Bank Park when Bryson Stott crushed a two-run homer off Graham Ashcraft with two outs to give the Phillies a 5-4 win over the Reds.

Five straight wins. A season high. The Phillies are 16-4 under Mattingly and 25-23 overall. Two games over .500 and climbing.

Schwarber was out of the lineup with an illness, which meant the Phillies needed someone else to provide the power. Stott answered. The guy who Bryce Harper publicly said should be playing every day has 10 extra-base hits and 18 RBI in 17 games since May 1st. Whatever was wrong with his bat in April is gone.

Bryson Stott RING IT

STOTTY TOO HOTTY 🔥#RingTheBell pic.twitter.com/zAmcEVL9rC

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) May 19, 2026

The production over the last two and a half weeks has been exactly what the Phillies need from the second baseman and Monday night was the biggest hit of the stretch.

Painter Had His Best Start of the Season

Andrew Painter went six innings, gave up three hits and two runs, walked two, and struck out three on just 69 pitches.

That’s the longest start of his young career and by far his best outing of 2026. After the Oakland disaster and the inconsistency that plagued his first seven starts, Monday night was exactly the kind of step forward the Phillies needed to see.

A quality start for Andrew Painter 🎨 pic.twitter.com/CUrbD8B8pw

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) May 19, 2026

One of the two runs came on a 61 mph seeing-eye ground ball down the first-base line in the second inning. The Reds strung three consecutive singles together to tie the game at 2-2. After that, Cincinnati didn’t get another hit against Painter for the rest of his outing.

He retired 12 of the last 13 batters he faced. The fastball location was improved. The walks were limited. The pitch count was efficient enough to get through six innings without being stretched. That’s development. That’s a 23-year-old figuring it out in real time.

Mattingly pulled him at 69 pitches with a 3-2 lead. Same approach he used in Boston last week. Manage the workload, let the kid end on a high note, hand it to the bullpen. The right call for Painter’s long-term development even if the bullpen immediately gave the lead back.

Bohm Homered Again

Bohm hit a solo homer in the sixth to give the Phillies a 3-2 lead. He also started the eighth-inning rally with a base hit that set the table for Stott’s go-ahead blast.

KABOHM! pic.twitter.com/fGWZFCmDg3

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) May 19, 2026

Since the two-day reset that Mattingly gave him, Bohm has been a different hitter. Still a long way to go before anyone trusts him fully after the .161 start. But the at-bats have been better and the results are starting to follow.

Phillies Bullpen Had Some Issues

Keller gave up a game-tying solo homer to Sal Stewart on a hanging 0-2 sweeper in the seventh. An 0-2 count and you throw a hanging breaking ball that gets deposited over the wall.

That’s a pitch selection and execution problem that can’t happen in a one-run game. Alvarado gave up a single and a double in the eighth that put the Reds ahead 4-3. The bullpen turned a 3-2 lead into a 4-3 deficit in the span of two innings before Stott bailed everyone out.

Duran got the final three outs for his eighth save. Having Duran back there closing games is the only reason the bullpen’s middle-inning issues haven’t cost the Phillies more games during this stretch.

16-4 Under Mattingly. Five Straight Wins.

The Phillies were 9-19 when Mattingly took over. They’re 25-23 now. Sixteen wins in twenty games. Five consecutive victories. The pitching has been elite. The offense has found different heroes every night.

Schwarber is out sick and Stott steps up with the biggest hit of the game. That’s the kind of depth the lineup has been showing under Mattingly that it never showed in April.

The Reds are in town through Wednesday. Keep stacking wins. Keep climbing.

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