Suarez powers Reds past Phillies
PHILADELPHIA -- Eugenio Suarez's three-run home run capped a three-hit day and drove Philadelphia Phillies starter Adam Morgan from the game before the end of the fourth inning as the Cincinnati Reds salvaged the final game of a three-game series with a 9-4 road win.
Dan Strailey (2-1, 3.05 ERA) threw five innings of shutout ball for the win, giving up six hits and three walks while striking out six.
The loss was Philadelphia's first at home in its last seven games at Citizens Bank Park.
Cincinnati first got to Morgan in the second inning, when the first four Reds batters collected hits. Jay Bruce led off with a double and then scored on Adam Duvall's two-base knock, with Ivan De Jesus Jr. and then Tucker Barnhart singling to score Duval.
That made it 2-0, but it was a five-run fourth that really blew things open.
The Reds loaded the bases with one out before Morgan walked his counterpart Straily on four pitches. Two batters later, Suarez ended Morgan's day by driving a full-count changeup to straightaway center, scoring Tucker Barnhart and Tyler Holt to extend the lead to 7-0.
Cincinnati finished off its scoring in the ninth thanks to a pinch-hit, two-RBI single from Zack Cozart.
Suarez's home run was his seventh of the season, putting him more than halfway to his career high of 13 set last year in only 97 games. The 24-year-old infielder went 3-for-5 with the three RBIs to raise his season average to .252.
Morgan (1-1) departed after 3 2/3 innings, giving up seven runs (all earned) on eight hits and three walks, one of which was intentional. His ERA rose from 3.94 to 6.41.
His worst start out of four on the season came on the heels of his best, seven innings of one-run ball in a win over Atlanta on May 10.
The Phillies (22-16), despite being one of the major's hottest teams after a slow start, fell to 4-15 when their pitching staff allows four-or-more runs in a game.
Despite having the second-worst offense in the majors at just 3.2 runs per game, this was only the second time this season they'd been shut out.
They had opportunities, including two men on with one out in the second inning and a bases-loaded situation in the fourth, but weren't able to plate anybody until the sixth inning, when a two-RBI double by Maikel Franco gave the home team its first runs of the game.
The Phillies added one more in the eighth on a single by Franco for his 22nd RBI of the season, and a final run in the ninth when Reds reliever Elvis Araujo walked David Lough with the bases loaded.
Tony Cingrani got the final two outs of the game for his third save of the year.
NOTES: Since losing their first four games of the season, the Phillies have the second-best record in MLB (22-11, .667) since April 9, winning six of seven heading into Sunday's game against Cincinnati. Only the Cubs (24-7, .774) are better during that span. ... The Reds have not won a series since taking two of three from the Rockies (April 18-20), a stretch that has reached seven straight. They split four games with the Brewers and two with the Pirates earlier this month. ... After a 4-3 win on Saturday night, the Phillies are 14-3 (.824) in one-run games. Only one team in MLB history, the 1883 Cleveland Blues (16-3, .842), has a better percentage in one-run games over the course of a season.