Reds hope to end Phillies' home run barrage (Jul 27, 2018)
The Philadelphia Phillies are not the club that they were last season. That is evident in their demeanor, in their record -- and the way the ball leaves the ballpark against the Cincinnati Reds.
And the Reds, who spent the last two months playing nothing like the team that began this season, are hoping they are not slipping back into the bad baseball they played in April and May.
Phillies right-hander Nick Pivetta (6-8, 4.69 ERA), who made a strong start the last time he opposed the Reds, starts the second contest of the four-game weekend series Friday night against Reds right-hander Anthony DeSclafani (4-3, 5.40).
Pivetta can only hope to get something resembling the support the Phillies gave their pitchers Thursday night at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.
Rhys Hoskins, Nick Williams and Maikel Franco each homered twice and the Phillies tied a club record by going deep seven times -- the first time they have done that in 20 years -- during a 9-4 victory in which all four Reds pitchers gave up at least one homer.
The Phillies, winners of 17 of their last 25, are 4-0 against the Reds this season.
If it seemed as if the Phillies were playing Home Run Derby -- they've hit 56 homers in their last 36 games -- it's because Hoskins, at least in his own mind, was doing exactly that.
Hoskins participated in the Home Run Derby during the All-Star break in Washington on July 16, and doesn't think it's a coincidence he is hitting .385 with six homers and 10 RBIs in his last six games.
While some hitters complain the Derby messes up their swing -- as Aaron Judge of the Yankees suggested last season -- Hoskins said he thinks that intentionally trying to homer on every swing for one night might have helped him.
"The Derby made me be a little more aggressive, pull the ball," said Hoskins who has three of his 20 homers in his last two games. "I think it carried over. I'm swinging at a lot better pitches. I feel like I'm getting in a lot of hitter's counts, and that's all you can ask for."
By piling up 18 hits while winning their third game in a row, the Phillies jumped their NL East lead over Atlanta to 2 1/2 games and dealt the Reds their sixth loss in eight games, a stretch that followed a run of 21 Cincinnati wins in 30 games.
On Thursday, Cincinnati came back from a four-run deficit to tie it at 4-4 in the fourth inning against Phillies left-hander Ranger Suarez, who was making his first career start, but the Phillies scored solo runs in each of the next five innings.
The Phillies are playing in Cincinnati for the first time since the opening series of the 2017 season, and, remarkably, only six players remain from the 13 Phillies players who participated in that season opener.
Perhaps not coincidentally, all these changes mean the Phillies are 14 games above .500 (58-44) after being 26 games under (38-64) at this stage last season, when they didn't win their 58th game until Sept. 17.
"We believe in each other and we're a confident group of guys," Hoskins said. "We believe in the talent in that room -- and we perform."
Before the game, Hoskins said, "I think we're past the narrative of, `Are we a good team?'"
The Reds were coming off two wins in three games against the St. Louis Cardinals, but they need more consistency from their pitching staff. And they need a lot fewer of the opponent's balls leaving the yard.
Interim manager Jim Riggleman didn't hesitate to pull starter Tyler Mahle after he struggled for a third consecutive start, giving up six hits and three runs before being replaced without retiring a batter in the second.
"He must have been putting the ball over the middle of the plate, and the Phillies wouldn't let him get away with it," Riggleman said. "He just didn't have it today, and they got him."
A lot of hitters are getting the Reds pitchers these days. They have allowed 19 homers in seven games since the All-Star break, and 154 for the season, by far the most in the major leagues.
"We have to find a way to keep the ball in the ballpark," Riggleman said. "You can't win usually if guys give up three home runs, never mind six or seven."
DeSclafani is 3-1 with a 5.21 ERA in four career appearances (three starts) against the Phillies, but hasn't faced them since the 2015 season. He struggled while losing each of his last two starts this season, to the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Cardinals, giving up nine earned runs in 7 2/3 innings.
Pivetta held the Reds to two runs and five hits over seven innings, walking none and striking out seven, but didn't get the decision in a 4-3 Phillies win at Citizens Bank Park on April 11. That is the only time in his career he faced the Reds.
