Bryce Harper, Rhys Hoskins lead Phillies homer barrage in 7-1 win over Reds

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Aristides Aquino hits dingers. In fact, he’s been hitting dingers at the most prolific rate in MLB history for much of the last month, and Monday just added to that lore.

The Cincinnati Reds rookie blasted his 15th homer of the season, becoming the fastest player to that number of dingers ever. In fact, the player who previously held that record - Rhys Hoskins - was both in the opposing dugout and pounding homers of his own today, perhaps as retribution.

Point is, what Aquino has been doing is historic, record-breaking, and all the bells and whistles. It’s just unfortunate that he’s been doing it while the rest of the Reds fall completely flat.

About that...

Key Plays

• Anthony DeSclafani didn’t pitch too poorly in this one, but he was bitten by a pair of longballs that put the Reds in an insurmountable hole. The first of those came from Scott Kingery in the Top of the 2nd, a 2-run blast that left the Reds in a 2-0 deficit.
• Aquino chimed in with his solo blast off Drew Smyly in the Bottom of the 2nd as a short-term counterbalance, spanking one into the upper-deck of the LF bleachers to make it 2-1.
• Rhys Hoskins, however, de-closened the lead in the Top of the 3rd with a 2-run blast of his own, and the Reds were down 4-1.
• Disco motored through 7 IP, but when Wandy Peralta took over for the Top of the 8th, the predictable happened. Bryce Harper belted a 2-run dinger off the Reds lefty, and that was backed by a solo shot from Hoskins, his second blast of the game. That put the Reds behind 7-1, which is precisely how this one finished.

Tony Graphanino

Other Notes

• As mentioned earlier, Disco’s final line wasn’t the best, but he did actually pitch fairly decent on the whole. He ended up being tagged for just 3 H in 7 IP, with 4 ER on his ledger despite a solid 8/2 K/BB. Homers in 2019 though, man.
• Aquino also singled, but that set no records.
• Eugenio Suarez did not play in this one after exiting last night’s game with a busted hand after being hit by a pitch. Fortunately, he’s just dealing with a contusion, as The Athletic’s C. Trent Rosecrans relayed earlier. Kyle Farmer and Alex Blandino filled in at 3B today.
• Tuesday will feature a 4:40 PM ET start for these two clubs when the series picks back up, an early start time again now that school is back in session, I assume. Alex Wood, who will apparently finish the season with the Reds, will get another start, while Philadelphia will counter with Vince Velasquez.
• The Reds are now a full 10 games under .500.
• Tunes.