PHILADELPHIA − Now that was more like the Chase Burns the Cincinnati Reds want and need.
Tasked with bouncing back from recording just one out and a pitch-tipping conundrum against the Boston Red Sox six days earlier, Burns returned to the mound Sunday, July 6 for the Reds and offered a far more respectable showing against the star-laden, power-driven Philadelphia Phillies.
Philadelphia won, 3-1, but Burns went 4 2/3 innings. He exited having blanked the National League East-leading Phillies (53-37) but was charged with an earned run when reliever Sam Moll entered the game and allowed a game-tying double to Middletown-native Kyle Schwarber.
Burns’ pitch count climbed to 91 with two outs in the fifth inning, so it wasn’t the picture of efficiency. But it was a competitive and utilitarian progression in his third MLB start, and especially in light of the pitch-tipping issue that seemed to doom him at Fenway Park earlier in the week.
Burns reduced his ERA by more than five runs as it fell from 13.50 to 8.10 by the end of his outing.
“I felt really confident going into (Sunday),” Burns said. “We kinda knew what small things they could have been picking up on, so just addressing those right away. I think I cleaned up a lot of things that helped me get through this outing.”
The Phillies mounted threats against Burns due in part to the four walks he allowed, but Burns battled out of trouble in the first and second innings. He only allowed two hits and struck out seven.
“We saw a few things today,” Reds manager Terry Francona said. “One, all the things we had heard. He’ll compete. He didn’t back down. It’s not an easy lineup and he wasn’t commanding. There’s a lot of pitches but he did OK.”
Sunday’s performance by Burns was more proof-of-concept of the player. He dazzled in his MLB debut, striking out the first five New York Yankees he faced on June 24. The seven runs he allowed in 1/3 of an inning at Fenway Park gave some fans and pundits pause, but he appeared to be back on track after facing the Phillies.
Maybe that should have been expected.
Veteran Reds reliever Emilio Pagán said bouncing back from pitch-tipping issues would be hard for any pitcher to respond to. He also offered that it was possible − maybe even likely − Burns would come back with the kind of game he had in South Philadelphia.
“It’s the big leagues. Boston has a really good lineup and they’re really swinging it. You have to understand that, too,” Pagán said. “The little bit I’ve been around Chase this past offseason and in spring training, he’s a super-mature, super-confident kid from a very good family where he was raised to do things the right way. I don’t think anybody’s worried about him.”
Pagán described the pitching staff’s attention to detail in their respective deliveries. The process of identifying delivery flaws beings in front of mirrors in spring training, and continues as they throw each day throughout the season.
“When you’re dealing with stuff in your delivery that can be a tell, in spring training we had literally stations where you stand in front of a mirror, come set, see if you see anything and do it from all angles,” Pagán said. “You check, ‘is my glove higher? Is my glove lower? Am I flared? Am I cocked one way or the other with my wrist?’ All those things, we’re constantly looking at. If you’re not, you’re doing not just yourself but your team a disservice.
“I think it’s something you can iron out pretty quickly.”
While Burns ironed things out, the Reds (46-44) didn’t as a team in the series finale.
Philadelphia starter and reigning NL Pitcher of the Month for June, Zack Wheeler, threw a complete game, one-hitter with 12 strikeouts and no walks on 108 pitches. The lone hit he conceded was a solo home run by Austin Hays, who was briefly with the Phillies in 2024 after a trade-deadline move.
That poke was greeted with lusty boos from the grandstands and it allowed the Reds to lead, 1-0, but that didn’t last. Tony Santillan saw Bryson Stott crank a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning to break the 1-1 tie. That proved decisive offensively.
“He (Santillan) has been so good and will be so good,” Francona said. “He just left a fastball in the wrong place.”
Wheeler proved decisive, too, as he continued to mount his Cy Young Award campaign. After the eighth inning, Wheeler exited the game to an ovation, but no Phillies relievers started throwing in the bullpen. Wheeler then received a standing ovation when he came back out for the ninth inning, which turned into a raucous, stadium-wide countdown toward his complete-game victory.
“He’s got all the weapons, and obviously, got the last weapon which is like the compete mode,” Francona said. “You don’t see too many guys go out there for the ninth inning anymore. That was impressive… We’re being competitive. We have a chance, but that’s a hard way to win.”
The Reds packed up and headed back for Cincinnati on Sunday having gone 2-4 over their six games in Boston and Philadelphia.
The run into the MLB All-Star break starts with four games against the Miami Marlins and wraps up with three games against the Colorado Rockies.
Cincinnati’s probable starting pitchers for the Miami series starts Monday (7:10 p.m.) with Brady Singer (7-6, 4.36 ERA) and continues with Nick Martinez (6-8, 4.20 ERA), Andrew Abbott (7-1, 2.15 ERA), and Nick Lodolo (5-6, 3.58 ERA).
The Marlins’ starters weren’t announced as of Sunday night. Miami comes to Great American Ball Park having lost two of three to the Milwaukee Brewers.
While the Reds’ remaining games prior to the break are less glitzy than the recent series against the Yankees, San Diego Padres, Red Sox and Phillies, it’s a critical stretch for Cincinnati. The club can potentially look to pad its record against two teams playing catchup in the playoff race. Colorado is 20-69 while Miami is 40-48.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Reds pitcher Chase Burns bounces back but Phillies take the series finale
Reporting by Pat Brennan, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
