Phillies Take 2 of 3 vs. Cincinnati Reds in Home Opening Weekend

The Philadelphia Phillies got off to a rusty start with a 1-5 record but that energy didn’t stop them from competing at a level where Phillies fans wanted as they cruised on by the Cincinnati Reds in their home opener on an overcast day in South Philadelphia in front of a great crowd, as expected.

The festivities took place before the game and it sparked the home crowd as Rhys Hoskins (who just had surgery on a torn ACL) and Bryce Harper by his side to raise the 2022 NL Champions banner.

Rob Thomson made the decision to start Zach Wheeler for the home opener and he was phenomenal the first four and a half innings as he dealt batter by batter. He was striking out batters for a good amount of time. He went 5.1 innings, gave up five hits, two earned runs, and struck out five. 

The fun all began in the bottom of the fifth for the Phillies bats as they racked up the scoring quickly as Kyle Schwarber smashed the ball right down Broad Street to right field and scored Trea Turner which made the Phillies re-take the lead after giving up a game tying run for the Reds in the top of the inning.

In the bottom of the seventh, Phillies J.T. Realmuto hit a towering shot to left center field that left the yard in no time as the Phillies re took the lead after the Reds tied the game up at two in the top of the sixth. 

The positive vibes on the Phillies offensive side was clicking and continued in the bottom of the eighth as Edmundo Sosa hit a bomb that lightened up Phillies fans everywhere that put the Phillies lead to three, 5-2.

Phillies reliever Craig Kimbrel was amazing as he got the save to end the game in the ninth.

The Phillies took game one of three Friday evening, 5-2 and are now 2-5 on the season.

It was a waiting game for Phillies fans at Citizens Bank Park Saturday evening as nothing went as expected offensively as everyone had their moments in the batter’s box with trying hard to get on base. The fun began in the last inning of the game. 

Phillies starting pitcher Bailey Falter didn’t look spectacular as his pitching mechanics weren’t as stellar as how Zach Wheeler pitched in the previous game back in game one of the series. Falter ended up pitching 5.0 innings, gave up 4 runs, 1 earned run, and only two strikeouts. 

In the bottom of the ninth, the Phillies magic happened as right fielder Nick Castellanos led off the half inning on a seven-pitch walk. Brandon Marsh singled which moved Castellanos to home to score and Alec Bohm to third base that made it a one run lead for the Cincinnati Reds, 2-1. 

Next, Phillies third baseman Edmundo Sosa had a big time piece of the half inning when he hit a sacrifice fly to center and scored Bohm to tie the game up at 2. Lastly, everything came down to Bryson Stott’s plate appearance and the Phillies magically ruined the Reds 2-0 lead as Stott came in clutch with a walk-off single to right field and the Phillies won the ball game, 3-2.

Besides the Falter’s pitching performance, everything played out well at the end for the Phillies. The Phillies are now 3-5 on the season and have now taken two games of three from the Cincinnati Reds.

On a gorgeous Easter Sunday afternoon, it was full of excitement as the Phillies got their rings for winning the NL Pennant but it wasn’t exciting to see the Reds take down the Phillies in a comeback win.

The Phillies started Taujaun Walker as he didn’t have his sharpest stuff. He only pitched 4.2 innings, gave up 3 hits, 5 walks, and 5 strikeouts. 

Even though Walker wasn’t on point with his pitching performance, the Phillies were up 2-0 until the fourth inning where the Reds started to pile up runs that made it a game. In the top fourth inning, the Reds tied the game at two on a Tyler Stephenson single to center and scored in a run.

The good part besides the bad performance pitching wise, we got to see Alec Bohm smash a 398 feet two-run bomb to left field that got the juice back at Citizens Banks Park. 

In the top of the ninth, South Philadelphia was dead silent as the Reds rallied back to make it a game. Phillies reliever Seranthony Dominguez had the same problem as Walker with his pitching and allowing multiple runners on base and lost his ability of throwing as the Reds embarrassed a Phillies crowd with a comeback victory, 6-4.

The Phillies took the series winning two out of the three games and are now 3-6 on the season.

UP NEXT: The 4-6 Miami Marlins travel to Philadelphia for a three game series starting on Monday, April 10 with first pitch scheduled for 6:40 pm EST. The game can be seen on NBC Sports Philadelphia.