Votto, Finnegan lead Reds past Philies
CINCINNATI -- Joey Votto homered, and Brandon Finnegan allowed one hit through seven innings, lifting the Cincinnati Reds to a 2-0 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on a wet Wednesday evening at Great American Ball Park.
Finnegan, 23, is among the centerpieces of a Reds' rebuild, and he was outstanding Wednesday, retiring the final 19 batters he faced and striking out nine. He walked one.
Raisel Iglesias earned the save.
The game was scoreless when Votto launched a 1-0 pitch from Phillies right-hander Jerad Eickhoff (0-1) into the right-center-field seats leading off the bottom of the seventh to put Cincinnati ahead 1-0.
Eugenio Suarez followed with a double and Zack Cozart's RBI single put the Reds ahead 2-0, ending the evening for Eickhoff.
Both Votto's homer and Suarez's double came on curveballs, a pitch that had served Eickhoff well on Wednesday.
Following a 50-minute rain delay at the start, the pitchers took over.
At his best, Finnegan is getting groundballs and strikeouts, but where he runs into trouble is when the pitch-count gets elevated early. That nearly happened Wednesday, when he needed 25 pitches to get through the first inning.
But, Finnegan (1-0) rebounded with an 11-pitch second and 12-pitch third then cruised from there.
The Phillies hit .222 against Finnegan in his two starts against them last year, and there weren't many good swings against him on Wednesday, aside from Maikel Franco, who singled in the first and flew out to the warning track in the fourth
Eickhoff worked extensively on his off-speed pitches during spring training, most notably his changeup. He showed the full arsenal while retiring the first seven batters he faced on Wednesday then pitched out of a second-and-third jam in the third.
Eickhoff induced a 3-6-1 double-play grounder to end the fifth after Cozart reached on an infield single.
He wound up allowing two runs in 6 2/3 innings.
Trailing 2-0 in the eighth, Philadelphia scratched out a couple of infield hits to begin the inning. However, Michael Lorenzen retired the next three batters.
NOTES: Reds C Devin Mesoraco (hip surgery) is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment for Double-A Pensacola on Thursday night. He plans to catch six innings. ... The Reds claimed OF Tyler Goeddel off waivers from the Phillies on Wednesday and transferred RHP Anthony DeSclafani to the 60-day disabled list. ... On Monday, LF Howie Kendrick became the first Phillies player to collect three hits on Opening Day in his Phillies debut since Jim Thome in 2003.