Tim Adleman spins a gem, Reds beat Phillies 5-2

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

As the season has gone on, it has been easy to question where this Reds team would be if they had a dependable starting rotation. Multiple nights have had us hoping for a decent outing from the starter, only to see them get dingered to death and exiting in the 4th inning. Tonight was not one of those nights. Adleman took the mound and absolutely dominated the Phillies to the tune of 8 shutout innings, 1 hit, 2 walks, and 5 strikeouts. He induced 14 ground ball outs and needed only 100 pitches to get through those 8 innings. For a team that has struggled to find good outings from their starters in the first couple of months, a performance like that will always be welcomed. Have a trophy Tim, and here’s to many more starts of that nature.

Honorable mentions go to: Adam Duvall, for going 2 for 4 with a solo dinger; Scott Schebler, for going 1 for 4 with a solo dinger; Jose Peraza, for driving in 2 insurance runs on a single in the 6th; Eugenio Suarez, for collecting 2 hits; and Billy Hamilton for stealing his 24th and 25th base of the season.

Key Plays

• The Reds got on the board early and never looked back in this one. Billy Hamilton led off with a walk and, after a Zack Cozart fly out, he stole 2nd and 3rd while Joey Votto was at the plate. Votto was able to productively ground out to 2nd base and bring Billy in to score. The Reds weren’t done there, however, as Adam Duvall came up next and smoked a fly ball to left for a solo dinger. Eugenio Suarez grounded out to end the inning but the Reds led 2-0.
• The Reds added on to that lead in the top of the 2nd as Scott Schebler led off the inning with his 14th home run of the season to increase the Reds’ lead to 3-0.
• Things were quiet for a while, but the Reds struck again in the 6th inning. After a Joey Votto pop-up(!) for the first out, Adam Duvall and Eugenio Suarez would hit back-to-back singles to left. They would both move up to 2nd and 3rd after a ground out by Schebler. That brought up Jose Peraza, who took on the name Clutchy McClutchface for the moment and rolled a single into left to bring in Duvall and Suarez and give the Reds a 5-0 lead.
• The Phillies were able to chip away at the lead in the bottom of the 9th. Asher Wojciechowski came on to relieve Adleman in the 9th and ran into trouble almost immediately. After Brock Stassi grounded out to first to lead off, Odubel Herrera would smoke a line drive to right-center for a double. Andres Blanco would then walk to put guys on 1st and 2nd. That brought up Aaron Altherr, who would hit a line drive to right for a double to bring in Herrera. The Reds would bring in Raisel Iglesias, who immediately got a ground ball to third by Tommy Joseph. Unfortunately, the throw from Suarez would be dropped by Joey Votto to load the bases. Michael Saunders would ground into a fielders choice at 2nd to bring in Blanco. Thankfully, Iglesias would get Maikel Franco to strike out to end the game. Reds win, 5-2.
• Tony Graphanino

Other Notes

• Joey Votto was surprisingly the only Reds position player in the starting lineup to not collect a hit. He also failed to get on base, which ended his on-base streak at 27 games.
• Billy Hamilton stole his 25th base tonight, which means that if Billy Hamilton were actually a baseball team, he’d have the 14th most stolen bases in all of baseball.
• While the Reds have the rotation figured out for the Phillies, the recent injury to Amir Garrett leaves things up in the air against the Blue Jays next week. Zach Buchanan talked with Bryan Price today, who brought up a few names: Asher Wojciechowski, Robert Stephenson, and newly acquired Jake Buchanan.
• The Reds face off against the Phillies in game 2 tomorrow at 4:05 PM ET. Bronson Arroyo will take his 6.75 ERA to the mound for the Reds and hope to rebound from his last start. He faces off against Jared Eickhoff, who is looking for his first win of the season.
• Tunes.