PHILADELPHIA − For a moment, the month of May didn’t seem so bad for the Cincinnati Reds.
Playing at Citizens Bank Park, a venue that has historically haunted the Reds, and against a Philadelphia Phillies team that was arguably the hottest club in baseball entering the series, Cincinnati stabilized a rocky month with a series win.
The Reds (26-24) smacked Phillies pitching around in the May 20 series finale, collecting 15 hits in an eventual 9-4 victory. In the face of a 5-13 May record entering play, Cincinnati’s series victory was its second of the month, and just its fifth series win ever at 22-year-old Citizens Bank Park.
“It’s tough to win in this place. I think we’ve played well every time we’ve come here (but) I don’t know if we’ve come out on top,” Reds starting pitcher Andrew Abbott said. “I think what shows a lot about the team is we’re still in the games. We know what we need to do to win. We have the confidence of our manager. We have the confidence of every guy in here, whether they’re up from Triple-A or whether they’re established. I think everyone just feeds off of that.
“We know we’re a good team. We saw what we did the first month or so of the season. There’s no reason we can’t go do it again. I know we’ve been scuffling but that’s not an excuse to not show up and not be ready to play.”
In the end, it could be argued the Reds were four outs shy of sweeping the Phillies (25-25). A go-ahead, two-out, eighth inning home run by Bryson Stott in the May 18 series opener prevented Cincinnati from winning the opener.
“It’s definitely a good feeling, taking the series and almost sweeping,” Reds backup catcher PJ Higgins said. “I think the main thing is to continue playing good baseball, playing together moving forward, and I think we’ll get more wins because of it… It’s definitely good to have this and it’s good to win, like I said, and continue the momentum.”
Abbott (4-2, 3.97 ERA) fell behind 1-0 in the first inning via an unearned run but didn’t allow a hit until the fourth inning. He later exited after 5 ⅓ innings with a 5-2 lead. On a day with a game time temperature of 95F, Abbott tossed 96 pitches (64 strikes) and allowed three hits and three walks against three strikeouts.
“Abbott didn’t look real sharp with his command early but he stayed out there on a hot day, threw almost 100 pitches,” Reds manager Terry Francona said. “Gave us a good chance to win.”
Cincinnati’s bats kept were unrelenting and punched back when the Phillies cut their deficit to one run after Abbott’s departure.
Stewart, who was enduring the first relative slump of his rookie season, went 4-for-5 with three runs scored. Five other Reds − JJ Bleday, Spencer Steer, Nathaniel Lowe, Blake Dunn and Higgins − notched multi-hit games.
In the seventh inning, Lowe doubled drive off the wall in center field and widened Cincinnati’s advantage after Philadelphia homered its way back to within a run in the bottom of the sixth.
A two-run home run in the ninth inning by Stewart made it 9-4. Stewart crushed high-leverage Philadelphia reliever Jose Alvarado’s 90 mph cutter, driving it 441 feet and into the upper deck in left field.
Cincinnati roughed up Alvarado in both of his appearances in the series, posting three runs against the fireballer.
No Schwarber for Phillies? No problem for Reds
You might have noticed that Kyle Schwarber, the Middletown native the Reds pursued this offseason and tried to bring home, was largely absent from the conversation of the Reds-Phillies series. There was good reason for that: Schwarber missed all three games due to what Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly said was a stomach issue.
Schwarber was available to pinch hit, Mattingly said, but didn’t have a plate appearance.
“They had their best hitter out, which I’m very thankful for,” Francona said. “Believe me, that eighth and ninth inning, I knew where (Schwarber) was every minute.”
However fond of Schwarber the Reds might have been this past offseason when they attempted to sign the slugger in free agency, the club surely didn’t mind his absence. Even after not appearing in the series versus Cincinnati, Schwarber’s 20 home runs were still the most in MLB, with Chicago White Sox rookie Munetaka Murakami’s 17 the next-closest in the home run race.
Matt Olson’s 14 home runs for the Atlanta Braves were second-most in the National League.
Even without Schwarber, the Phillies still found enough power to be a nuisance against Cincinnati pitching. Alec Bohm went deep twice in the series, and Edmundo Sosa, Bryson Stott and Trea Turner all contributed one homer apiece.
Next up for the Reds: Another shot at an NL Central rival
Much of Cincinnati’s struggles in May center around an 0-7 road trip to begin the month. The Reds were swept in Pittsburgh, and then swept in our games by the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.
That road trip brought the Reds to 1-9 against NL Central opponents in 2026, with their first and only divisional win to-date occurring March 30 against the Pirates.
Cincinnati gets another shot at improving in divisional play May 22-24 when it returns to Great American Ball Park for three games against the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals were 28-19 entering play May 20, and they’ve been especially potent on the road to the tune of a 15-8 mark.
The Reds will open the series May 22 (6:40 p.m.) with newly acquired starting pitcher Chris Paddack, who will face the Cardinals’ Kyle Leahy (5-3, 3.94 ERA). The start is scheduled to be Paddack’s second for Cincinnati after allowing two runs and six hits (no decision) in an eventual May 16 loss to the Cleveland Guardians. For the year, Paddack is 0-5 with a 7.07 ERA after beginning the season with the Miami Marlins.
The Saturday, May 23, game against St. Louis is a nationally broadcast affair scheduled to go off at 7:15 p.m. (FOX). The Reds’ Brady Singer (2-4, 6.26 ERA) will start against the Cardinals’ Andre Pallante (4.04 ERA).
The series finale on May 24 (1:40 p.m.) will see Nick Lodolo (0-1, 7.20 ERA) start. St. Louis hadn’t announced its starter for the game as of May 20.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Reds rake in Philly, take series from Phillies
Reporting by Pat Brennan, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
