Reds routed by Philadelphia Phillies as Matt Moore fires 6 no-hit IP

Matt Moore entered Saturday’s start against the Cincinnati Reds with a 6.79 ERA on the season. That was the 6th highest by any of the 194 MLB pitchers who had thrown at least 50 innings so far in 2021.

Naturally, he threw 6 no-hit frames against the Reds, spearheading dominant outing against them for the Philadelphia Phillies just a day after presumptive NL Cy Young Award leader Zack Wheeler was lit up by the Reds offense. Baseball!

Luis Castillo had some of his most electric stuff ever working for the Reds today, an effort that will unfortunately go unremembered in the team win column. He hit 101 mph with a wicked-moving fastball early, and despite yielding a solo dinger to former Reds farmhand Ronald Torreyes, Castillo looked every bit as dominant as he’s been for the Reds since the first of June.

That kind out of gas in the Bottom of the 7th, however, as a bunt single by Torreyes and an eventual RBI-single by former Red Travis Jankowski put the Reds behind 3-0 and knocked Castillo out of the game.

The Reds finally got on the board with their initial hit in this game, as Tyler Stephenson socked a solo tater off former Red Archie Bradley in the Top of the 8th, though that ultimately wasn’t enough to rally the Reds further. Add-in that Bryce Harper hit an RBI-triple off Sean Doolittle in the Bottom of the 8th that turned into a Little League home run when a soggy relay throw into the infield wasn’t picked up, and the Reds fell in rather embarrassing 5-1 fashion.

6-1 fashion - Andrew McCutchen played add-on with a solo blast off Doolittle after I’d just written and rewritten the previous paragraph twice.

Tony Graphanino

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Castillo’s final line of 6.2 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 8 K was fine enough, though it didn’t truly detail just how filthy his stuff was for most of his 106 pitch day. The velocity was brilliant, as noted above, but he was painting corners at 100 mph with such filth that New York Mets starter Marcus Stroman was even impressed:

Other Notes

• Stephenson’s homer today means he’s homered in back to back starts, his previous one coming in the series finale in Atlanta. As noted on the FSBallySports-OH broadcast, that’s the first time in his big league career that he’s homered in back to back starts. Kid’s gonna be very, very special, folks.
• Sonny Gray and Aaron Nola will toe the rubber for their respective clubs in tomorrow’s series finale, a rubber match that the Reds could desperately use in their quest to claw back into the thick of the playoff chase. First pitch is set for 1:05 PM ET.
• Tunes.