Phillies beat Reds on walk-off single in Bottom of the 9th

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Zack Cozart has been a revelation offensively so far in 2017, and Saturday’s outing against the Phillies just might be the pinnacle so far. Cozart was perfect at the plate - 4 for 4 with a walk - including a 2-run homer and a double, and he continues to make what originally looked like an early season hot streak look more and more real by the game.

His power’s still there. His walk rate is way, way up. Pair that with his typical Gold Glove defense, and the dude’s firmly in the talk for the best player in all of baseball in the year 2017 who doesn’t play for the Angels.

Honorable Mentions are due to: Austin Brice, who fired a pair of perfect innings of relief; Scooter Gennett, who went 2 for 4 with a double and a ribbie; and Billy Hamilton, who singled, stole a base, and scored a run.

Key Plays

• The Reds wasted no time jumping on Phillies starter Jerad Eickhoff. Hamilton singled to lead off the Top of the 1st, and after he stole 2B, Cozart mashed a 2-run homer to left-center. Reds led, 2-0.
• Solo dingers gave Philadelphia the lead eventually, as Cesar Hernandez (Bottom of the 1st), Michael Saunders (Bottom of the 2nd), and Tommy Joseph (Bottom of the 4th) all teed-off on Bronson Arroyo to leave the Reds behind, 3-2.
• Scooter tied the game with an RBI double in the Top of the 6th, plating Suarez, who had singled in front of him. Game tied, 3-3.
• Reds pitching held the Phillies completely in check for some four innings, but that fell apart immediately in the Bottom of the 9th with Michael Lorenzen on the mound. He allowed a leadoff single to Aaron Altherr, and a wild pitch allowed Altherr to scoot over to 2B with nobody out. That brought Tommy Joseph to the plate, and it was his single into CF that gave the Phils a walkoff victory. Reds lost, 4-3.

Tony Graphanino

Other Notes

• Bronson Arroyo’s final line: 5 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, BB, 4 K on 84 pitches. Given that all three runs scored on solo homers, that’s about as good as we can expect out of Arroyo at the moment.
• The Reds will wrap up their stint in Philadelphia on Sunday with Opening Day Starter (™) Scott Feldman on the bump for the rubber match. The Phillies will counter with Zach Eflin, with first pitch scheduled for 1:35 PM ET.
• Tunes.