The Philadelphia Phillies and Cincinnati Reds matched each other for the first five innings of the day. But it was the Phillies who were able to take advantage of their chances with runners on base, hitting two different 2-run home runs in the second half of the ballgame to put things away as they grabbed a 5-1 victory on Saturday evening.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Reds (46-43) | 1 | 8 | 1 |
| Philadelphia Phillies (52-37) | 5 | 5 | 1 |
| W: Romano (1-3) L: Lodolo (5-6) | |||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
Nick Lodolo found himself in trouble early on as he allowed a leadoff double to Trea Turner in the bottom of the 1st inning. He would issue a 2-out walk to Alec Bohm later in the inning, but he wiggled out of the jam by getting a ground out from Nick Castellanos to strand both runners.
Two innings later it was Turner causing issues for Lodolo again. In the bottom of the 3rd he picked up a 1-out single and then stole second base to get himself into scoring position. Once again, though, the Reds lefty got out of the jam to keep the game scoreless.
Cincinnati broke through in the top of the 5th inning when Will Benson hit a solo home run. It was the first extra-base hit given up to a left-handed hitter by Ranger Suarez in 2025 and it put the Reds up 1-0. Singles by Santiago Espinal and Elly De La Cruz would both come with two outs as they tried to get a rally going, but they would both be stranded. Philadelphia answered in the bottom of the inning with a solo home run by Edmundo Sosa that tied the game back up.
Spencer Steer led off the 6th inning with a double but the Reds were unable to move him beyond there. A leadoff walk in the bottom of the inning came back to haunt Nick Lodolo as he gave up a 2-run home run to Alec Bohm that broke the tie and put the Phillies up 3-1.
In the top of the 8th inning the Reds got a leadoff single from Elly De La Cruz and then saw Austin Hays reach on an error. But just like the rest of the game, Cincinnati’s offense couldn’t come through with runners on and they came up empty. The Phillies also had a runner reach in the 8th inning on an error and unlike the Reds, they capitalized as Kyle Schwarber came through with a 2-run home run off of Brent Suter to extend the lead to 5-1.
Cincinnati got a 1-out single from TJ Friedl in the top of the 9th inning. That was all that they would get as Philadelphia held on for a win to even up the series at one game for each club.
Key Moment of the Game
Alec Bohm’s go-ahead 2-run homer in the 6th inning.
Notes Worth Noting
The Reds failed to reach the five games over .500 mark once again this season – a mark that they just can’t get to.
Santiago Espinal and Elly De La Cruz each had two hits on the day.
The Phillies only had five hits on the day but four of them were for extra-bases and three of them were home runs.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds vs Philadelphia Phillies
Sunday July 6th, 1:35pm ET
Chase Burns (0-1, 13.50 ERA) vs Zack Wheeler (8-3, 2.27 ERA)
“But it was the Phillies who were able to take advantage of their chances with runners on base…” And there it is.
Yeah. We lost the game due to bad offense. One of those classic nothing went right offensively kinda game. Frustrating to say the least
To me the Reds accomplished the mission yesterday after got that 9-6 win in the opener. Today was a chance to win the series after Suarez was removed in the 6th inning because the Philly bullpen hasn’t been so good but the offense and Lodolo couldn’t make it.
Tomorrow will be another try as long as Chase Burns can rebound from his horrible last outing at Fenway and he is able to keep the game in the line…I don’t expect the Reds can score many runs against Wheeler but he has lost 3 games this season so he isn’t undefeatable either.. It’s a kind of going 0-0 or 1-1 maybe 1-0 until the last third of the game…
Lack of getting baserunners over for the Reds and then scoring is a frustrating one. This is where we’ve got to dig deep and improve. Surprised that we just don’t want to steal bases. Turner for the Phillies gets on base then steals second to get into scoring position. I mean we figured runs would be hard to come by against the Phillies starting pitching. We had some opportunuties and knocked Suarez after 5 innings. We didn’t take advantage of those and the Philly bullpen holds us scoreless.
Lodolo got the bad luck of not getting some pitches called for strikes that certainly looked like strikes. He pitched well overall. A few mistakes but the Phillies can hit.
Ashcraft looked great in his lone inning, and we certainly need him to be a shutdown guy out of the bullpen.
Hoping Burns is dealing tomorrow. We’re going to need it.
Frustrating to not get Espinal over since he reached base three of four times at bat. What a performance!
A walk and some soft contact singles but you’re right, he did get on base. He’s got to get some movement on the base paths once he reaches. This team, highlighted in loses, just doesn’t run.
The Reds are averaging about one stolen base attempt in each of their wins and one stolen base attempt in each of their losses.
They attempted 44 stolen bases in April when they went 16-15.
They attempted 30 stolen bases in May when they went 13-15.
In June and this first week of July, they’ve only attempted 15 stolen bases and they’re 17-14.
Other note: They’re walks have decreased each month so maybe they’re not even getting deeper into counts where they might use the running game? I don’t know. Whatever it is, I wouldn’t mess with it.
Elly, Steer, McLain, I think they can steal some bases. In fact many others can too. Since we’ve been shutout 9 times and have grounded into 59 double plays, stealing and being aggressive on the base paths should manufacture more runs. We’re under .500 in 1 run games. If you can get 4-5 more wins per season let’s say on average by stealing more bases, more of moving runners over to get them in and scoring more runs, cutting down on double plays, that just gets us closer and closer to a playoff spot.
The #2 hitter, traditionally, before the madness of having a guy like Trout hit 2nd, was someone who could handle the bat, makes contact, knows how to bunt, knows the strike zone. A guy like Espy. There’s a reason why he hits 2nd so often. But playing him in left? That’s a different story. Trade Petty to Angels for Ward.
The Reds have grounded into 59 double plays but I don’t think that number means much.
The MLB average GIDP tally so far this season is 57.
About a third of teams are somewhere between 54 and 62.
The Mets and the Dodgers have better than average offenses and they each have more GIDP than the Reds.
The A’s and Rockies have lousy offenses, and they also have more GIDP than the Reds.
The Royals and the Rangers have lousy offenses, and they have very few GIDP compared to the rest of baseball. How is that possible? Probably because they just don’t get guys on base with no outs or one out.
(Don’t ask about the Cubs’ numbers… Geesh. Unreal.)
Chase Burns tmrw? Really?
Are you in Coach Herm Edward’s camp, ‘you play to win the game’? If so, we’re friends. I won’t start Burns tomorrow. I would start Singer.
I probably won’t put any money on it, but I trust Burns against the Phillies.
PHI 2025 vs power pitchers:
.220 BA / .305 OBP / .340 SLG
900 PAs – 240 SO – 40 BB
If Burns can pitch around Bryce Harper, he might be okay.
I get the feeling Burns is being pushed a little too fast. Patience is needed with Lodolo as he develops. Two outstanding lefthanders in the starting pitching lineup is a big asset for the Reds.
Stink. Fish. Pot!!!
First of all, I was one of the voices advocating the rostering of Rece Hinds over Garret Hampson. That was several weeks ago. Currently being in a pennant chase though, I can not see how this can continue. He is hitting like 125 with regular playing time. Small sample size but I don’t see how we can give this cat any more rope. It almost has to be that Connor Joe is a better option. But that is getting into the weeds. The real better option is not on the team currently. We need to win ball games in July. If we are 10 games out of the playoffs in September, then I have no problem playing Hinds. But not now, when every Reds player, manager, media person, and a multitude of fans keep beating the drum that we are in it. I totally agree that the Chase Burns move was an All In move. But there has to be other hard decision or this bringing Burns up early is not going to turn out well.
We are missing Conner Joe…
Hey SteveAReno.
….and that says a lot about where this team is at.
Agree.
@Rob And then there’s the MM saga. Yes, he’s popular with many on this site, but today he committed a consequential error, was 0-5 as the lead-off man, and after a nice run, his average is now headed back toward the Mendoza Line. What to do?
McLain is .170 in road games. He’s really struggled away from GABP.
Usually stellar defense and I think he’s going to be better as he continues to play but yeah, an error and an o’fer aren’t encouraging.
McClain had a really nice stretch of 15ish games with an OPS close to 1.000
And now he’s under .600 in his last ten games.
His stats aren’t in stone until the end of the season. That’s when all can really talk about how good or bad of a season it was and decide what to do.
The offence definitely isn’t up to snuff for sure, but I think will get better as players get back into groove from injuries. Lodolo continues to pitch rather poorly, which may be the norm for him. He should be better by now, but it is what it is. If the Reds can get another bat, or another pitcher for that matter they can still make a run.
He’s got 10 quality starts on the season which puts Lodolo in the Top 25 in baseball. I don’t think that equates to pitching poorly.
Lodolo is having a good season. He’s had a few bad starts but I wouldn’t say that’s his “norm.”
The Phillies Lineup is pretty good against LHP and Lodolo kept them in check today.
The Cubs and the Brewers can handle LHP and Lodolo has kept the Reds in the game three times against them this season.
Yankees signed Candy to a minors deal.
The Reds have a few professionals: Trevino, Lux, Espy. The Phils have a clubhouse full of ’em.
Perusing through stats and found an interesting article on Fangraphs ranking team defense so far in 2025 with a bunch of metrics that are fairly heavy. But, Reds arent bad and are ranked 11th in MLB in overall team defense. One metric, Defensive efficiency( the rate at which a team turns batted balls into outs), the Reds are elite and rank 2nd overall in MLB. So when folks wonder why McLain or Espinal are playing, it’s because of their defensive acumen.
To the naked eye, Ive not thought McLain’s defense the last few weeks was noteworthy. However, if you look at the Reds individually as team in 2025, the top 3 defensive players are McLain, Trevino, and Espinal by Fangraphs metrics by a lot.(They use bBALL reference #’s for the Defensive efficiency metric). Lux and CES are ranked as the worst defenders on the Reds and by a sizable amount.
Across the league by position, McLain is 4th in MLB in defense /OAA as a second baseman, behind Hoerner Cubs, Giminez Toronto,Dubon Astros.
McLain is also 3rd on the Reds in Runs scored, 3rd in home runs. 2nd in stolen bases and tied for 3rd with Trevino in fWAR behind Elly and Freidl. (BWAR doesn’t like him as much but hes still overwhelmingly in the + contributor category.) CES is a laggard everywhere nearing the AS break and a negative contributor across the board. Both bWAR and fWAR have him dead last or next to dead last in WAR. With Hays and Marte back in the fold and Benson contributing against righties), Hinds and CES need to be productive contributors in whatever (non-every day starter ) role they are asked. I suspect Hinds will be back to AAA soon and CES negative offensive/defensive numbers and microscopic 2.4 % BB rate are noteworthy and need to improve.
Yesterday’s lineup against LHP had Friedl and Stephenson getting rest and Hinds playing. So Hinds and CES can be suppressed in the starting lineup. Reds do need another rotation piece though, like a Laureano.
CES has won 2 games in the last 10 with a 3 run double and a granny….and how many games did he completely miss like yesterday? We got outhomered 3-1 and lost the game. We don’t have much power without CES and we no longer run. Hays has a high of 22 HRs so he’s not a slugger by any means. CES hasn’t K’d that much lately either (7 in last 40 at-bats). I’d atleast keep him on the roster vs lefties and to give Friedl a little more time off, but at-bats will be tough to come by vs rhp with Lux, Hays, and Steer
CES is dreadful for his career against LHP, and this year 2 for 34 with no walks. Reds are trying to win games. CES is not productive.
2 recent fluke hero moments do not make up for all the time CES has hampered this offense by having unproductive at-bats.
He really needs to go back to Louisville and work on not chasing pitches outside the strike zone.
CES ops is .614. Steer’s ops on June 17 was .606. Weren’t we trying to win games when Steer sucked for 2.5 months? You can only turn it around by playing? He’s still only 25 and guys have figured it out a little late before.
Obviously there is a great chance he doesn’t make it, but a heater with a bunch of 430 ft HRs is better then a Lux/Espy heater with singles looped over the infield. I feel like if they don’t give him a run now then its over in Cincinnati….and more then a small chance he becomes Encarnacion for a while somewhere else
I hope CES figures it out and his power is right there with Suarez and Adam Duvall and Wily mo Peña.
‘His GS in Fenway was the hit of the week that saved this road trip for sure. But, hes got to be a net positive and on a team thats trying to get to the playoffs and catch the Cards and Brewers and Padres- you got to earn your way with the limited time you get. Lux and hays are rotating DH/LF and Benson is Rf and Friedl CF.
Steer was the REds team MVP in 2023. Steer just won the NL player of the week. Hes going to be an every day guy, mostly at 1b. Steer isnt sitting in favor of CES. CES gets the start against Zack Wheeler today at 3b. See what he does when he gets some reps like today. He needs to make the most of his opportunities, as does Hines. i will be rooting for him for a 2-3 with a bomb and couple ribbies
OS> Steer is hot now. He has had a huge last 4 weeks with a .946 OPS and .627 slugging%. Ride him as long as he is.
However, he is also dealing with a chronic shoulder issue of a decade’s existence. It will come back to bite again at some point.
In 2023, he had an .820 OPS with .464 slugging%
In 2024 up to the All Star break, he had a .778 OPS with a .441 slugging%. After the break, his OPS was .644 with a .344 slugging%. This pulled his seasonal OPS down to .721 with a .401 slugging%.
He can be an important piece; and, his shoulder probably limits him to 1B and DH. However, at age 27, I do not think he is a reliable core piece to build around for the remainder of the EDLC/ McLean/ Greene et al window.
Reds are 7 back in the division and 1.5 games out of the wildcard. Fun competive season so far.
They really need to figure out how to beat the other members of the Central.
If they keep losing to the Cards, Brewers, and Cubs, they are going nowhere fast.
The Reds are 46-43 but have had a losing record against all three of those teams during this season.
What’s peculiar is that last year, the 77-85 Reds were had a winning record against the Cubs and the Cardinals.
The Reds are 11-15 in the NL Central so far this season with 23 games remaining against division foes.
If they can improve on that .420 WP% and go 13-10 in those 23 games (4 games vs PIT but 7 vs CHC so I don’t wanna be too optimistic and think about 15-9 or anything like that 😉 ) they’d have 59 wins with 50 other games outside the division.
If they went 30-20 in those 50 games, they would have 89 wins and in a pretty good spot for the NLWC2 or NLWC3 playoff berths.
So they’re gonna have to beat the good teams in the NL Central but they’re ALSO gonna have to win some games against everybody else:
3 games against TOR (who are on fire after a 16-20 start)
3 games against SDP (who are with the Reds in contention for NLWC)
4 games against the Phillies
6 games against the Mets
6 games against the Dodgers
I don’t think the Reds can catch the Cubs, so fwiw I root for the Cubs to beat the Cardinals and Brewers. Get that wild card spot!
But really, I’m also not too confident that (without a trade or two) the Reds are an 85-90 win team.
So I’m just having fun watching em and keeping up with other fans’ thoughts and looking at their schedule and daydreaming a little bit about the strong 3-man rotation they could take into October.
Indy Red Man, you are exactly correct on CES. He’s never gotten a TRUE chance
Still can’t do better than 4 games above, although they’ve had many chances, they fail every time. Reminds me of last year when they couldn’t get above 500. We’re basically looking at a below 500 club when everything is finished. Something tells me we’ve seen this before. Oh no, it’s Burns again today, now I’m really depressed.
I think the Reds are doing great when you think we rely on players like first year rookie Burns, CES, Hinds, Benson and current slumpers like Mclain, and Stephenson.