PHILADELPHIA — After a 4-hour, 26-minute marathon against the New York Mets on Sunday night, which the Phillies lost in soul-crushing manner in the ninth inning, they needed an unexciting game. And they got one on Monday night, in a 4-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds at Citizens Bank Park.
The Phillies’ bullpen was thin because interim manager Rob Thomson used five of his regular relievers on Sunday, but starting pitcher Noah Syndergaard did exactly what he needed to. He was economical with his pitches, allowing him to go seven innings against the Reds. Thomson only needed to use two relievers — Andrew Bellatti and Sam Coonrod — who collectively threw 29 pitches.
It was Syndergaard’s best start thus far as a Phillie. He allowed only one run on three hits and two walks, with one strikeout over those seven innings, relying primarily on his sinker and his slider as he has in his previous starts since beine acquired from the Los Angeles Angels at the trade deadline.
The Phillies are now 4-0 when Syndergaard starts, and are 67-55 on the season. They have three more games against the Reds to try to make up ground in their playoff push.
Offense lights up
Nick Castellanos and Bryson Stott put the Phillies on the board early. In the second inning, Castellanos crushed a 436-foot home to center field to give the Phillies a 1-0 lead. In the next at-bat, Stott hit a home run of his own — a 399-foot bomb to right field to make it 2-0.
Castellanos did more damage against his former team from there. In the third inning, with J.T. Realmuto on first base, he scorched an RBI double to the right-field corner. Instead of trying to throw out Castellanos at second base, Reds right fielder Jake Fraley tried throwing Realmuto out at third. It did not go well. The ball bounced multiple times before it reached the bag, and Realmuto sailed home with plenty of time (for his 500th career run). Castellanos now has a 12-game hitting streak.
Alec Bohm has another good night
Alec Bohm has been hot at the plate lately — he’s hitting .333/.333/.600 over his last seven games — and that carried into his game on Monday night. Bohm went 3-for-4 with three hard-hit singles. This came a day after he hit not one, but two three-run homers.
