Reds erupt in 3rd, hold on to put away Phillies

Spencer Steer reached base four times, drove in two runs and scored twice as the visiting Cincinnati Reds topped the Philadelphia Phillies 9-6 in a Friday matinee.
Steer’s two hits and two walks highlighted a productive offensive day for Cincinnati, which has won back-to-back games after losing four of its previous six contests. Elly Da La Cruz added two hits and two RBIs for the Reds, while Tyler Stephenson and TJ Friedl each notched a pair of hits.
Nick Castellanos homered and drove in three runs for Philadelphia, while Kyle Schwarber knocked in a pair of runs for the hosts.
The Phillies jumped out to an early lead with three runs in the first inning against Reds starter Andrew Abbott. Alec Bohm’s sacrifice fly opened the scoring before Castellanos delivered a two-run homer.
However, Cincinnati responded with a run in the second, followed by a five-run rally in the third inning.
In that crucial frame, the first six Reds batters reached base against Jesus Luzardo (7-5). De La Cruz recorded an RBI single and Austin Hays laced a double to make it 3-3. Steer followed with a tie-breaking double to left to give Cincinnati a 5-3 edge.
Two batters later, Joe Ross relieved Luzardo and allowed a sacrifice fly to Noelvi Marte to make it 6-3.
Philadelphia responded the bottom of the third as Schwarber, Bryce Harper and Bohm led off with singles before Castellanos rolled into a fielder’s choice to get the hosts within two runs.
However, Cincinnati promptly got the run back in the fourth as De La Cruz singled to knock in Santiago Espinal, who had singled to open the frame.
Abbott gave up a couple of baserunners in the fourth before the Reds summoned Sam Moll (1-0), who induced an inning-ending double play off the bat of Schwarber.
Cincinnati tacked on two more runs in the fifth, highlighted by Will Benson’s RBI single. But Philadelphia recouped those two runs in the sixth as Schwarber delivered a two-run double to make it 9-6.
That remained the count heading into the home half of the eighth, when the Phillies loaded the bases with two outs against Tony Santillan. With the go-ahead run at the plate, the right-hander retired Bohm on a called third strike to end the threat.
Emilion Pagan closed things out in the ninth for his 19th save.