Sal Stewart had his first career 4-hit game and Andrew Abbott had another strong start for the Reds on Wednesday afternoon. Those two things combined along with good bullpen work down the stretch led to Cincinnati picking up a 9-4 win on the day and grabbing a series victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.
Philadelphia struck first in this one after Andrew Abbott struggled to throw strikes in the bottom of the 1st inning as back-to-back walks led to a run coming around on a sacrifice fly. They didn’t hold a lead for long as the Reds picked up three runs in the top of the 2nd inning with RBI hits from Nathaniel Lowe and P.J. Higgings sandwiched an RBI groundout from Will Benson to put Cincinnati ahead 3-1.
The Reds would add to their lead in the top of the 4th inning after Blake Dunn led off with a triple and then scored on a 1-out hit from Higgins. Abbott had settled in after a shaky 1st and had kept the Phillies off of the board since the sacrifice fly by Bryce Harper in the opening frame through the 5th. Cincinnati would add another run in the 6th and again it was Dunn getting things started, this time with a double with one out. He then scored when Dane Myers came off of the bench to pinch hit for Will Benson and Myers smacked a double of his own.
Holding a 5-1 lead the Reds had Andrew Abbott head back to the mound for the bottom of the 6th. He retired Bryce Harper to start the inning but then gave up a solo homer to Alec Bohm, which ended his day. Cincinnati called on Brock Burke to enter the game and after getting a groundout to start his uting he gave up a single and then a 2-run home run to Edmundo Sosa as the Phillies made it a 1-run game.Burke would get the next batter out to send the game to the 7th.
The Reds would put together a little rally in the top of the inning with 1-out singles from JJ Bleday and Sal Stewart that was followed up by a 2-out double from Nathaniel Lowe that scored two runs for the visiting club and padded their lead. Connor Phillips and Graham Ashcraft would come out of the bullpen and toss a perfect inning in both the bottom of the 7th and 8th as Cincinnati held onto their 7-4 lead.
JJ Bleday led off the top of the 9th inning with a single into center. Three pitches later Sal Stewart got a cutter middle in and he hit it into the upper deck in left field for a 441-foot, 2-run home run. His 4th hit of the game made it 9-4. Sam Moll would enter the game out of the Reds bullpen for the bottom of the 9th and worked around a 2-out double to seal the win and give Cincinnati a series victory.
Key Moment of the Game
Nathaniel Lowe’s 2-run double in the 7th inning. After Philadelphia pulled within a run the inning prior, Lowe gave the Reds some wiggle room by making it a 3-run lead.
Notes Worth Noting
Sal Stewart led the way with four hits, but JJ Bleday, Spencer Steer, Nathaniel Lowe, Blake Dunn, and P.J. Higgins all had 2-hit games.
The two hits by Blake Dunn have him hitting .357/.419/.607 in the 11 games that he’s played in since he was called up earlier this month. His 10 hits are more than he had in either 2024 (19 games) or 2025 (30 games) with Cincinnati.
Cincinnati’s offense had five doubles, a triple, and a home run on the day as they showed off plenty of power in the game.
Andrew Abbott’s rough start feels like it was forever ago at this point. His ERA is now under 4.00 on the season (3.97). Since his ERA peaked at 6.59 after his start on April 24th, Abbott has made five starts and thrown 28.0 innings with a 1.29 ERA.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
St. Louis Cardinals vs Cincinnati Reds
Friday May 22nd, 6:40pm ET
Kyle Leahy (5-3, 3.94 ERA) vs Chris Paddack (0-5, 7.07 ERA)