Kyle Schwarber Launches 31st Zack Wheeler Dominates

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Dateline: Cincinnati  

Kyle Schwarber lined his 31st home run into the right field stands with a man on to stake Zack Wheeler to a three-run lead he never relinquished in the Philadelphia Phillies 4-1 win over the Reds.

Andrew Abbott retired the first seven Phillies hitters but was touched by a one out double by Derek Hill. Justin Crawford singled to right but Hill did not want to test right fielder Spencer Steer's arm and stopped at third.

Trea Turner hit a slow ground ball to Elly De La Cruz at short for the second out. De La Cruz had only one play and threw Turner out at first as Hill scored easily. Abbott fell behind 3-0 to Schwarber, the Middletown, Ohio and University of Indiana grad. Schwarber was swinging 3-0 and belted his 27th home run against the Reds, the most against any opponent and 13th at Great American Ball Park. He missed the Reds when they visited Philadelphia in May with a gastrointestinal illness.

The Reds could do nothing with veteran Zack Wheeler. He allowed a single to JJ Bleday but struck out three in the first inning and two of three in the second. 

"He's really good," Terry Francona said of Wheeler. "He maintained his velocity through out and spun the ball with a change up."

Abbott left after six innings, allowing three runs on five hits, no walks and a season-high eight strikeouts. It is his seventh quality start of the year.

"I thought he threw the ball real well. He gave up the home run 3-0. I think he was trying to throw one off the plate and missed," Francona said.

"I kept a pretty good offense pretty quiet," Abbott said. "Schwarber is a good hitter. With a 3-0 count we're going to live or die by the sword. The fastball is one of my best pitches. Hindsight is 20/20 obviously you throw him another breaking ball sure. I told (acting pitching coach) Matt Tracy, I'm going to attack with my best stuff."

"I was trying to go away from him. That's the attack. It was too much over the middle. That's the mistake. I didn't walk anybody. You guys know I hate to walk people. I made them earn what they got and tried to keep us in the game," Abbott continued.

Pierce Johnson pitched a scoreless seventh.

Eugenio Suarez led off the seventh inning with his ninth home run to cut the lead to 3-1. It is his 198th home run as a Red, tying Barry Larkin for 11th place on the Reds' list.

Wheeler pitched seven innings for the fifth time this season. He gave up a run on four hits and no walks. He tied a career-high with 14 strikeouts. 

"He has really good stuff. Today he mixed it really well," Suarez said. "He made a mistake and I was ready for that one. He doesn't make a lot of mistake."

Turner and Schwarber started the eighth with singles against Caleb Ferguson. Bryce Harper grounded out as the runners moved up. Julien Garcia replaced Ferguson to face Alec Bohm.

Bohm walked to load the bases. Edmundo Sosa hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Turner. JT Realmuto grounded out to end the inning.

Orion Kerkering replaced Wheeler to start the eighth inning.

Pinch hitter Ivan Johnson and De La Cruz walked with one out. Stewart hit a ground ball to Bohm at third. He threw to second to try to force De La Cruz at second and he beat it the throw according to second base umpire Mike Estabrook. Manager Don Mattingly challenged the play. Turner was able to throw Stewart out at first base. Infield coach Bobby Dickerson was ejected by Lance Barrett. Caleb Cotham was ejected by Malachi Moore. 

The Phillies could only challenge the out of safe call on De La Cruz.

"The only thing that could be challenges is the safe/out — they wanted abandoning of the base path, but that is not challengeable. On the field you can't abandon if you're safe and you return to the bag," crew chief, Alfonso Marquez said. 

JJ Bleday walked to load the bases. Jonathan Bowlan came in to pitch to Suarez, who won a challenge on a 2-2 pitch but he struck out swinging to end the inning.

Sam Moll started the ninth for the Reds.

Jhoan Duran gave up an infield hit to Steer but struck out Nathaniel Lowe, Tyler Stephenson and TJ Friedl for his 22nd save in 23 chances.

The Reds tied a season low eight games under .500 at 41-49 with 72 games left.

"It has been like this for a month and a half," Suarez said. "We can't take it for granted. We have to come out every day and play our best. Have fun. We have to give 100 percent and see what happens after the game."

"We try to show up every day. It's a new day. I don't want these guys coming in dragging," Francona said. "That's not going to help. They care. I care. The coaches care. We will have early hitting tomorrow, like we always do. We will try to keep after it. We want to do better. We need to do better."

Reds Wounded On The Mend

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Dateline: Cincinnati  

Ke'Bryan Hayes played two games in Dayton over the weekend and experienced a little soreness in his lower back.

"He played the first night and DH'd the second night. He had some general soreness," Francona said. "He came in here for the Sunday day game and worked out on the off day. He needs to play a little bit."

The Reds rested him on Sunday but sent him to Louisville, tonight (Tues 060726) to play seven innings at third base. 

Blake Dunn with a sore elbow is running but isn't ready to do more, according to Terry Francona. 

"He's still feeling it. He's not turned the corner as fast as he hoped. As long as he's feeling it, he is just in the training room."

Dane Myers with a contusion on his left shoulder is healing.

"He's coming along pretty good," Francona said. "He's more active every day."

Tony Santillan is being examined on Wednesday. They will determine if he gets a PRP injection. 

Graham Ashcraft will make 25 throws from 90 feet and then go to Goodyear, Arizona to work out and work up to a throwing program.

"He's not ready for bullpen sessions," Francona said. 

Andrew Abbott Takes On The Phillies And Kyle Schwarber

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Dateline: Cincinnati  

Andrew Abbott takes on the Philadelphia Phillies and slugging Middletown, Ohio native, Kyle Schwarber.

Schwarber leads all of baseball with 30 home runs, one more than Yordan Alvarez of the Houston Astros.

Abbott like Schwarber is left handed. Left handed batters are hitting .275 off Abbott while right handers are at .244. However, left handed hitters have just three home runs against Abbott in 102 at bats, while right handers have 12 home runs in 262 at bats.

Schwarber is hitting .268 against left handed pitching compared to .241 against right handers. In 123 at bats, Schwarber hit 10 home runs off left handers and 20 off right handers in 203 at bats.

Schwarber missed the series with the Reds in Philadelphia, May 18-20 with gastrointestinal illness.

Abbott is 5-4 with a 3.88 ERA in 18 starts.

Since the end of April, Abbott has a 4-2 record with a 2.69 ERA in 11 starts. He has four quality starts in that span. His 30 walks in that span, kept him from pitching any more than six innings, which he's done six times this season.

Abbott's last start was in a 4-2 loss to Milwaukee in which he pitched five innings, allowing two runs on five hits and five walks on July 1.

He beat the Phillies on May 20 with 5 1/3 innings, he allowed two runs, one earned on three walks and three hits, including a home run to Alec Bohm.

Lifetime, Abbott is 1-1 with a 3.81 ERA in five starts against the Phillies.

Right hander Zack Wheeler will pitch for the Phillies.

He is 8-1 with a 2.36 ERA in 13 starts.

Wheeler is 36 years old with in his 12th year. He was the first pick of the San Francisco Giants in 2009 out of East Paulding High School in Dallas, Georgia. He was traded to the New York Mets for Carlos Beltran at the trade deadline in 2011. 

Wheeler broke in with the Mets in 2013 and pitched five seasons, missing the 2015 and 2016 with a torn ACL in his elbow.

He returned to the Mets in 2017 and pitched two seasons with a 23-25 record and a 3.65 ERA in 60 starts. He signed a free agent contract with the Phillies in December 2019.

Wheeler did not make the All-Star team this season after being on the squad in 2024 and last season, where he was joined by Abbott. He is 77-38 with the Phillies with a 2.86 ERA in 170 starts. His best season was in 2024. He was 16-7 in 32 starts with a 2.57 ERA. He was second in the Cy Young voting that year and 12th in the Most Valuable Player voting.

He logged nine quality starts this season, pitching at least seven innings four times. He has not allowed more than three runs in 11 of his 13 starts. Wheeler's shortest outing was in his last start against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He lasted 4 1/3 innings, allowing four earned runs on a season-high nine hits and one walk.

Wheeler has nine career starts against the Reds with a 3-2 record and 2.35 ERA with one complete game on July 6 last season, exactly a year ago. He pitched all nine innings, allowing one hit, a home run by Austin Hays in the fifth inning. He had no walks and 12 strikeouts.

The Reds lineup:

Elly De La Cruz SS

Sal Stewart 1B

JJ Bleday LF

Eugenio Suarez 3B

Nathaniel Lowe DH

Spencer Steer RF

Tyler Stephenson C

TJ Friedl CF

Matt McLain 2B

Phillies lineup:

Trea Turner SS

Kyle Schwarber DH

Bryce Harper 1B

Alec Bohm 3B

Edmundo Sosa LF

JT Realmuto C

Bryson Stott 2B

Derek Hill RF

Justin Crawford CF

Spencer Steer Breaks Shut Out And No Hitter Nick Lodolo Shuts Down O's

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Dateline: Cincinnati  

Spencer Steer broke up a scoreless game with his 14th home run and Nick Lodolo kept the Baltimore Orioles off the board for five innings as  the Reds took a 3-1 decision.

The win avoided a sweep and stopped the Reds six game losing streak at home.

Kyle Bradish retired the first 12 Reds of the game but walked Eugenio Suarez to start the fifth in front of Spencer Steer’s 14th home run.

Bradish (5-9) pitched 7 ⅔  innings, allowing five hits and one walk. He struck out five.

Rookie All-Star, Sal Stewart doubled home Edwin Arroyo to knock Bradish out of the game. Stewart has 61 RBI, tied for seventh in baseball and the most by a rookie this season. He is tied for 10th with 21 doubles, also the most by a rookie.

"That was huge for us. I'm glad we got that extra run," Terry Francona said.

Lodolo’s string of 14 scoreless innings ended in the sixth inning. Taylor Ward doubled and scored on a single by Coby Mayo with two outs.

"I thought his stuff was crisp. He got a lot of quick outs," Francona said. "It is a combination of throwing the ball over the plate and them not wanting to get in a hole so the ambush the first pitch. The last inning was a long one for him but up to that point he was really economical."

He walked two to load the bases but he struck out Jeremiah Jackson to complete the inning.

"You definitely get tired but you have to bear down and make some pitches to get out of that," Lodolo said. "The game could get sideways on you there. I threw a good slider to Jackson there. It definitely feels good."

Brock Burke relieved Lodolo in the seventh with his 44th appearance, tied for second most in baseball. He pitched a perfect seventh and turned the game over to Tejay Antone, who pitched a scoreless eighth.

Lodolo (3-2) pitched six innings, allowing one run on six hits. He walked two and struck out four.

"It was the best count control, the first pitch strikes to set me up to get quick outs," Lodolo. "We have to go deeper in the game and count control will help us to that. Count leverage gives me a chance to do more things I want to do."

Emilio Pagan, the Reds closer, got his first save chance since, May 4 after missing 46 games with a strained left hamstring. The Orioles loaded the bases with two walks and Blaze Alexander's third hit of the game. Henderson hit a sacrifice fly to left to cut the lead to one before All-Star Adley Rutschman lined out to end the threat. Pagan earned his seventh save in 10 chances. 

"It feels better that we got the win. I had an idea my first save opportunity would be something like that," Pagan said. "It hasn't been easy for us. It is human nature to want to come back and have an impact. It wasn't pretty by any means but I'm happy I got the job done."

It was Pagan's first save since April 17 and it was not easy.

"I feel good. My delivery feels good. It will be easier," Pagan said. "It is the same thing I say all the time. I try to remind myself. I need one good pitch. I go one pitch at a time. I'm one good breaking ball away from a double play or one good fastball away for a pop up and kind of wipe away all their momentum."

It was a relief to Francona, who has seen a lot of leads disappear late in the game.

"It was getting a little iffy. There was one pitch that Stevo (Tyler Stephenson) and I'm glad he challenged but it was a hair off," Francona said. "I thought 'please don't hurt us now' but I think he held his stuff pretty good. He stayed at it. One thing about him. I think he kind of enjoys being out there. He's not going to back away. He said the next one will be easy. I believe him."

Nick Lodolo Tries To Salvage Game With Orioles

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Dateline: Cincinnati  

Nick Lodolo gets the ball against the Baltimore Orioles to stop a sweep. 

Lodolo is 2-2 with a 5.05 ERA in 10 starts.

In his last five outings, Lodolo has no decisions. He allowed double digits hits twice. His last two starts were against the Milwaukee Brewers. He pitched four scoreless innings on June 23. He allowed two hits and had to leave the game after finishing the fourth when Jackson Chourio hit a line drive off his left wrist. He returned to pitch five scoreless innings against the Brewers on June 29, allowing one hit and four walks.

Lodolo has two career starts against the Orioles. He is 0-1 with a 4.09 ERA. His last start against them on May 5, 2024. He pitched five innings in an 11-1 loss, allowing four runs on four hits and two walks. He gave up a two-run home run to Jordan Westburg in the first inning.

The Orioles send Kyle Bradish to gain the sweep. 

Bradish is 5-8 with a 3.77 ERA in 17 starts.

The 29-year old right hander was the fourth round pick of the Los Angeles Angels out of New Mexico State in 2018. He was traded to the Orioles in December 2019 with Kyle Brnovic, Zach Peek, and Isaac Mattson for Dylan Bundy.

Bradish won two of his last three starts. He pitched 7 2/3 innings against the Seattle Mariners on June 17, allowing one earned run on five hits and two walks. He struck out 12. On June 22 he defeated the Los Angeles Angels with eight innings of scoreless baseball, allowing six hits and a walk. He struck out nine. In his last start, against the Washington Nationals, Bradish pitched four innings in a 6-4 loss. He allowed four runs, three earned on just one hit but five walks. He struck out two. He walked two and gave up a two-run double to Luis Garcia Jr, who scored on a throwing error by Coby Mayo. He walked James Wood to start the fifth. Garcia Jr. followed with a home run off Tyler Wells.

He made one start against the Reds in his career.

On July 29 in his rookie season he started against the Reds in a 6-2 win over Cincinnati. He pitched five innings and allowed two runs on five hits with no walks and seven strikeouts. He allowed a two run home run to Joey Votto in the first inning.

Bradish was limited to eight starts in 2024 with a UCL strain. He had "Tommy John" surgery and returned on August 26 last season and made six starts in which he was 1-1 with a 2.53 ERA.

Reds lineup:

Elly De La Cruz SS

Sal Stewart 3B

JJ Bleday LF

Eugenio Suarez DH

Spencer Steer 1B

Tyler Stephenson C

Noelvi Marte RF

TJ Friedl CF

Edwin Arroyo 2B

Orioles lineup:

Gunnar Henderson SS

Adley Rutschman C

Taylor Ward LF

Pete Alonso 1B

Colby Mayo DH

Tyler O'Neil RF

Leody Taveras CF

Jeremiah Jackson 2B

Blaze Alexander 3B

Chase Petty And Rhett Lowder To Bullpen For Now

Dateline: Cincinnati  

Hunter Greene’s return had a ripple effect on the Reds pitching plans

Chase Petty will go to Louisville to go through a program to convert to a relief pitcher. 

Manager Terry Francona needs bullpen help now with injuries that have mounted in the pen. He thinks Petty can help this season. He didn't rule out that Petty could still become a starter.

"We think he can help us but he has to be able to pitch in back-to-back games," Francona said. "We are going to put him on a program. We had to see if (Julien) Aguiar was healthy."

Aguiar is coming off a year of rehab after surgery.  

"(Jose) Franco is being stretched out," Francona said.

With Greene returning someone had to leave the starting rotation. That is where Rhett Lowder, also back from a year of rehab will go to the bullpen.

"He was kind of excited about it," Francona said. 

Of course pitching in a major league bullpen is better than starting in the minor leagues.

"We knew that someone was being moved when Hunter got back," Lowder said. "Tito came to me and I said I will do whatever you want."

Lowder was forced into action against the Baltimore Orioles, Saturday night. He pitched three scoreless innings after Greene was knocked out of the box in 3 1/3 innings.

"It was uncomfortable," Francona said. "He was on short rest. He was outstanding I will say that."

Lowder pitched three scoreless innings with two hits and three walks, one of which was intentional.

The move to the bullpen is temporary. The Reds still consider Lowder a top prospect for the starting rotation.

Hunter Greene First Start After Surgery Goes Wrong

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Dateline: Cincinnati  

For 87 games the Reds tried to tread water until they could get Hunter Greene, the anointed ace to the mound.

The hole has gotten deep but the 40-47 Reds must start a turnaround today against the Baltimore Orioles, if they have any hopes of making the playoffs. The hole deepened with an 8-5 defeat as the Orioles clinched the series.

The Orioles greeted him rudely. Gunnar Henderson hit Green's first pitch up the middle for a single. Pete Alonso walked and Samuel Basallo hit his 14th home run and second in a many days to put the Orioles up 3-0.

Sal Stewart hit a ground rule double off Brandon Young and scored on Eugenio Suarez single to center. TJ Friedl tripled to tie the game. Elly De La Cruz put the Reds ahead.

The Orioles scored five runs against Greene in the fourth, aided by two walks and All-Star Adley Rutschman's second double. Pete Alonso, who reached base in all five plate appearances singled to deliver Rutschman.

"I just didn't do a good job channeling the adrenaline," Greene said. "I failed on the execution part, not trying to do too much. I was constantly behind. "

Greene lasted 3 1/3 innings, allowing eight runs to tie his career high, on seven hits and four walks. He struck out seven.

"It was a lack of command," Terry Francona said. "It didn't seem like he could throw his fastball where he wanted to. There were some deep counts. They fouled off a number of two strike fastballs."

The Reds scored a run off Grant Wolfram, who relieved Brandon Young with two on and no outs in the sixth. Wolfram induced the Orioles second double play to escape the sixth but walked De La Cruz to begin the seventh. Stewart forced him at second and he scored on an infield hit by Suarez to conclude the scoring.

Sam Moll pitched 2/3 and inning and turned the game over to Julien Garcia, who pitched two perfect innings.

Rhett Lowder, who is temporarily, moved to the bullpen with Greene's entry to the rotation, pitched three scoreless innings.

"We were kind of up against it in our bullpen right now," Francona said. "It was uncomfortable. He was on short rest. He was outstanding. I will say that."

Chase Burns And Sal Stewart Are All-Stars

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Dateline: Cincinnati  

Sal Stewart and Chase Burns will both go to the All-Star game in Philadelphia for the first time each. 

Stewart, 22, is the seventh Reds rookie to be named to the National League All-Star team. Chris Sabo, Scott Williamson, Wayne Simpson, Johnny Bench, Frank Robinson and Ewell Blackwell are the others.

Burns is just 23 years old and will make his next start on Wednesday, making it plausible that he could start the game for the National League.

Burns is tied for the National League leaders in wins as a starter, at 10-1 in 17 starts. He has a 2.40 ERA ranking sixth in Major League Baseball.  Aaron Ashby leads baseball with 12 wins but he is a relief pitcher.

Stewart is hitting .255 with 17 home runs and 60 RBI which ties him for seventh in baseball and most by a rookie. He leads all rookies with 20 doubles.

Hunter Greene Off The IL Reds Lose Will Benson

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Dateline: Cincinnati  

Hunter Greene as expected was removed from the 60-day injured list on schedule to start against the Baltimore Orioles.

Chase Petty was sent to Triple A Louisville to make room on the active roster.

Since Greene was on the 60-day someone had to removed from the 40-day roster.

 That someone was left handed hitting outfielder Will Benson. 

The Reds cut ties with the 28-year old after three years. Benson was Cleveland’s top pick in the 2016 draft.

He made his first appearance in the big leagues in 2022 under manager Terry Francona. He hit .182 in 25 games before he was traded to the Reds in February 2023 for minor leaguers Justin Boyd and Steve Hajjar.

With the Reds, Benson had some memorable moments, game winning home runs. He was named the Most Outstanding Player in the series between Cincinnati and Cleveland last season, but his playing time this season was diminished with the emergence of Noelvi Marte.

He played 377 games in Cincinnati and hit .223 in 956 at bats. He hit 45 doubles, 13 triples and 40 home runs during his years in Cincinnati. He walked 112 times but struck out 362 times, once every three at bats.

The Reds have 10 days to trade or release him, then he goes on waivers and can be claimed by another team or he could accept assignment to Louisville where he hit seven singles in 19 at bats over six games. He walked twice and struck out three times.

Greene had bone chips removed from his right elbow in March. He made two successful rehab starts.

Expected to anchor the Reds rotation the 27-year old first pick of the 2017 draft, appeared just once in spring training and didn’t make it out of the first inning.

Greene has been an All-Star twice and has a 25-29 record with a 3.53 ERA. He won a career high nine games in 2024 with a career best 2.75 ERA. He has missed time in all five big league seasons, including 2026.

Petty has been working mostly in relief with the Reds and earned his first win and first save this season.

He appeared in 10 games with two starts. Petty is 1-1 with a 4.37 ERA as he returns to Louisville to resume his development as a starter after getting the Reds through a series of bullpen injuries.

Offense Missing In Cincinnati

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Dateline: Cincinnati  

The Baltimore Orioles scored three runs by the time the Reds had their third at bat. It was enough to secure a 3-0 win over the Reds.

Trevor Rogers issued five free passes and two hits and the Reds refused the gifts, stranding 10 base runners, including the lone runner to reach first base. As they have all season the Reds produced nothing with the four runners they left in scoring position. The were 0-5 in those situations. They are .220 for the season.

Baltimore scored an unearned run in the first. Gunnar Henderson scored when he stole third and the throw by Tyler Stephenson was high and wide.

Elly De La Cruz walked to lead off the game and scampered to third on Spencer Steer's one out single but Eugenio Suarez and Noelvi Marte struck out to strand them.

"When you get a lot on base and don't cash in. It hurts our chances," Terry Francona said. "We didn't score but we got the starter out of the game but when you're down you get their top tier guys out of the bullpen. It's not a great recipe."

Samuel Basallo hit his 13th home run with Adley Rutschman, who doubled on base in the third inning. It was the 20th home run allowed by Brady Singer in his 17th start. Singer allowed 19 in 32 starts last season. 

Singer pitched five innings, allowing three runs, two earned on three hits and five walks. He struck out six.

"He didn't command right from the get go. Like always he competed like crazy," Francona said. "Five walks keeps him from getting deeper in the game."

"Five walks is pretty embarrassing," Singer said. He fell behind Basallo 3-0 before the home run. "I was trying to get back into the count. I didn't want to walk him after we got the double play."

Pete Alonso hit into a double play before Basallo's two out home run.

Rico Garcia and Yennier Cano allowed two hits over three innings. Two of the Reds hits in the game didn't get out of the infield.

Tyler Wells pitched a 1-2-3 ninth it was his first save since September 28, 2023 against Boston, that clinched the Orioles playoff berth.