PHILADELPHIA — The Phillies could have done more damage offensively against the Reds than they did on Wednesday night, but they worked their at-bats and manufactured enough runs to secure a 7-5 win. Starter Cris Sánchez and the Phillies’ already-thin bullpen made this game more exciting than it needed to be — allowing four earned runs against a lineup that has a .655 OPS for the month of August — but ultimately got the job done.
Sánchez ran into trouble early. In the second inning, he threw a sinker right down the middle of the plate and gave up a solo home run to Reds left fielder Stuart Fairchild, who entered the game with a .069 batting average (which he had bumped to .100 by the end of the night). It was Fairchild’s third hit of the season.
In the fourth, Sánchez misplaced another sinker and gave up another home run, this time to Reds third baseman Kyle Farmer. In the top of the fifth inning, Sánchez threw another — you guessed it — misplaced sinker, and allowed an RBI double to Jonathan India. Before the game, interim manager Rob Thomson said he’d hoped that Sánchez would give him five or six innings, which the young left-handed pitcher did, but it was a bumpy road to get there. Sánchez allowed six hits and three earned runs, with no walks and seven strikeouts, over six innings pitched.
