Santiago Espinal had three RBIs, reliever Fernando Cruz threw a jam in the seventh inning and the Cincinnati Reds held on for a 7-4 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday night.
Will Benson had a solo homer in the third inning. Espinal drove home two singles as part of a four-run sixth and drove in another with a sacrifice fly in the seventh. That came after a 3-for-4 night for Espinal on Tuesday, including his first homer as a Red.
Cincinnati starter Nick Lodolo pitched five innings, allowing three runs and six hits, striking out four and walking three.
For the second night in a row, Cruz came in with one out, leaving Phillies runners on second and third base. Cruz retired Edmundo Sosa with a splitter and induced a fly ball to right from pinch-hitter Brandon Marsh, who followed Benson near the wall.
“He just wants the ball. He wants to do his part,” Reds manager David Bell said of the 34-year-old right-hander. “He comes in fearlessly and believes in himself.”
Cruz said: “As a top athlete you want those situations. Those are the situations you want. I have a lot of fun with them.”
Elly De La Cruz had three hits and three stolen bases, bringing his Major League total to 15. In the eighth, he singled, stole second and third base and scored on a flyout by Spencer Steer.
“The way he handles it is everything,” Bell said. “He keeps working. He understands the situation. He doesn’t just run there aimlessly. He understands the pitchers that are on the mound, what he’s dealing with and then the ability just takes over.”
The loss squandered another excellent outing by Philadelphia starter Spencer Turnbull, who allowed a run and three hits in five innings with eight strikeouts in 89 pitches.
“He went back out (for the sixth) but (the Reds) made two pitching changes in that inning. It lasted about 25 minutes. That’s why we made the change,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “If it was in 50 places we would have sent it back, but once you got into that 90 range it was too long.”
Turnbull has allowed just four earned runs and 13 hits in 27 innings through his first five starts.
“I couldn’t ask for anything more,” Thomson said.
Alec Bohm had four hits and two RBIs for the Phillies, who have lost two in a row to the Reds after winning the first game of the series on Monday.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Reds: 2B/DH Jonathan India and OF Jake Fraley each missed their fourth straight game due to illness.
NEXT ONE
The Phillies will pit right-hander Zack Wheeler (1-3, 2.30 ERA, 38 Ks) against Reds right-hander Nick Martinez (0-0, 4.76) in the finals of the four-game series on Thursday afternoon.
