And he struck out the first two batters in the eighth inning. And he had two strikes on number eight hitter Edmundo Sosa. And ... disaster.
Sosa lobbed a 2-and-2 pitch into right field for a single. Number nine hitter Weston Wilson doubled into the left field corner, scoring Sosa to tie it, 1-1.
Abbott had two strikes on Trea Turner and he pulled a run-scoring single to left, scoring Wilson to pull the Phillies ahead, 2-1.
That was it for Abbott and Reds manager Tito Francona replaced him with Tony Santillan to face Middletown native Kyle Schwarber.
Schwarber pulled a two-run home run down the right field line, his league-leading 42nd, and it was 4-1.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
TJ Friedl opened the first inning with a single, Miguel Andujar beat an infield single and Gavin Lux singled for a 1-0 Reds lead.
And that was it. One run in the first inning on three hits. No runs on four hits the rest of the way.
It was the 41st time the Reds scored two or fewer runs and they are 5-36 in those games.
It isn’t advantageous to permit the Phillies to stay close late in games. They have scored the second most runs in MLB in the seventh eighth and ninth innings.
Abbott was perfect through four innings, 12 up and 12 down. Then the Phillies put their first runner on base in the fifth, sixth and seventh, but Abbott pitched out of it to preserve a shutout through seven.
Then came the eighth.
“Yeah, it started out so good with those two strikeouts. It was almost like their game yesterday in Texas,” said Francona to reporters after the game, referring to the Phillies late comeback against the Rangers.
The Phillies have staged 30 comebacks this season and the Reds have blown 27 leads.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
“It happened so quick,” said Francona. Asked if he considered not sending Abbott out for the eighth inning, he said, “No, hey, he struck out the first two hitters. It didn’t look like he was out of gas.”
After the first inning, the Reds put Phillies stand-in starter Taiwan Walker to the test only once. With two outs in the third, Andujar walked and Lux beat out an infield hit. But Noelvi Marte struck out.
Walker had the Reds tearing up the infield with 11 ground ball outs during his six innings of one-run, six-hit pitching.
“He threw four pitches — he didn’t overpower anybody, but he located his fastball, he cut it, threw some change-ups, spun it and uh, kinda pitched," Francona said.
So did Abbott, for 7 2/3 innings.
The Reds staged one other rally in their eighth. They put two on with two outs, but it evaporated when Marte hit into an inning-ending fielder’s choice.
Marte, though, performed the defensive play of the night after Bryce Harper opened the seventh with a double. He moved to third on a ground ball.
Former Red Nick Castellanos flied to medium-depth right and Harper tagged and tried to score. Marte’s perfect throw easily wiped out Harper and preserve Cincinnati’s precarious 1-0 lead.
“At the time, Marte’s throw looked like a game-saver,” said Francona. “That was exciting.”
For the Phillies, the National League East leaders, it was their seventh win in eight games after sweeping the Texas Rangers over the weekend.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Brady Singer draws the assignment for Tuesday’s game and Hunter Greene comes off the injured list to pitch Wednesday’s game.
With a post-game Snoop Dogg concert as enticement, a capacity crowd of 43,800 stuffed Great American Ball Park.
And with the enticement of a Train post-game concert Wednesday and Greene’s return, another full house is anticipated.
NEXT GAME
Who: Philadelphia at Cincinnati
When: 6:40 p.m., Tuesday, Aug. 12
TV: FanDuel Sports
Radio: 1410-AM, 700-AM
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