We meet again—Series Preview: Reds at Phillies, August 22 – 25

It was quite a frustrating weekend at the Bank. But now, the Phillies have their plan set on the road ahead.

Following the beatdown from their rivals in New York, the Phillies will meet the Reds for the second time in the past week, but it’ll be for a four-game set at Citizens Bank Park this time around. The 48-71 Reds will be without many of their star players once again, but Mike Moustakas returned from the injured list on August 19. The Phillies missed him the last time they faced off, but you never know how long Moustakas will be healthy. The veteran has been placed on the injured list five times already in 2022, and we’ve still got well over a month to go.

Last time they met

In this past series with the Mets, the Phillies failed to take advantage of runners in scoring position and their opponent’s mistakes, something that has been a theme for the Phillies in times of struggle. Outside of the Phillies’ 11 runs in game two at Great American Ballpark, this same theme arose again while the Phillies were in Cincinnati.

11 Phillies runners were left on base in the first game of the series, but a strong pitching performance from Noah Syndergaard allowed them to steal a victory. In game three versus the Reds, the Phillies reached base seven times but still failed to score a run. Meanwhile, they wasted a dominant performance by Ranger Suarez, who has begun to resurge as the season comes to a close.

They did manage to take two of three from the Reds in this series, but their lack of situational hitting and aggressiveness foreshadowed a discouraging result in their series with the Mets.

Phillies calling on Thor for quality start

Exactly one week ago, Noah Syndergaard threw the best seven innings of his season. The right-hander allowed three runs over seven-plus innings on the bump in game one against the Reds last Tuesday.

It doesn’t sound great, but Syndergaard is coming off two years of inactivity from Tommy John surgery. Once a star pitcher with the Mets, he is now looking to do his part as a backend starter with a team smack in the middle of a playoff hunt.

And quite frankly, they need a quality start out of Syndergaard now more than ever. The Phillies played four games over the weekend, and they will be playing tonight with a bullpen that has thrown 15.1 innings in the last three days.

So in the simplest of terms, if Noah Syndergaard is going to implode during his tenure as a Phillie, now would be the least ideal time.

Pitching matchups

Game 1: Noah Syndergaard (RHP, 7-8, 3.95 ERA) vs. Luis Cessa (RHP, 3-1, 5.5 ERA)

Game 2: Ranger Suarez (LHP, 8-5, 3.31 ERA) vs. Nick Lodolo (LHP, 3-4, 4.12 ERA)

Game 3: Aaron Nola (RHP, 8-10, 3.25 ERA) vs. Graham Ashcraft (RHP, 5-3, 3.97 ERA)

Game 4: Zack Wheeler (RHP, 11-7, 3.07 ERA) vs. Justin Dunn (RHP, 1-1, 6.08 ERA)

The numbers

• Run Differential:
• Phillies: 65
• Reds: -106

• Runs Scored Per Game:
• Phillies: 4.61
• Reds: 4.28

• Runs Allowed Per Game:
• Phillies: 4.07
• Reds: 5.17

Game times and broadcasts

• Monday, August 22, at 7:05pm ET on NBC Sports Philadelphia, WTTM 1680, 94.1 WIP
• Tuesday, August 23, at 7:05pm ET on NBC Sports Philadelphia, WTTM 1680, 94.1 WIP
• Wednesday, August 24, at 7:05pm ET on NBC Sports Philadelphia, WTTM 1680, 94.1 WIP
• Thursday, August 25, at 7:05pm ET on NBC Sports Philadelphia, WTTM 1680, 94.1 WIP

Game coverage will be available on Philly Sports Reports’ Twitter page.