Disastrous fourth inning leads to Phillies' loss of game and series

By: Rebecca Serad, contributor

Final: Reds 10, Phillies 6 ❖ Attendance: 10,784

Cincinatti, Ohio — Going into today's game, the Phillies were hoping to hand Reds' rookie Robert Stephenson his first loss in his debut. It was crucial to avoid being swept to open the season for the first time since 2007, along with being swept on the road to open the season for the first time since 2000. However, a disastrous fourth inning sealed the Phils' fate.

Starting pitcher Charlie Morton started to struggle in the third inning and it carried over to the fourth inning. He let up a three-run homer to Jay Bruce and runners continued to get on afterwards. He was taken out in favor of rookie Daniel Stumpf, who promptly let up a grand slam to Eugenio Suarez. Ultimately, Brett Oberholtzer got the final out, but it ended up being too late, as the Reds scored eight runs in the inning. This proved to be too much for the Phils to overcome.

The Phillies tallied three homers (by Cedric Hunter, Ryan Howard and Carlos Ruiz), but those few sparks weren't bright enough to light a fire underneath the offense to make a comeback.

WP: Robert Stephenson (1-0, 5.40 ERA) ❖ LP: Charlie Morton (0-1, 14.73 ERA)

Hub: Game Summary ❖ Starting Pitchers ❖ At the Plate ❖ Bullpen ❖ What's Next

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Game Summary

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
PHI	0	0	1	1	2	0	0	2	0	6	9	1
CIN	0	0	1	8	0	0	1	0	X	10	12	1

After two quick innings, the Phillies threatened in the third, with pitcher Charlie Morton and Freddy Galvis hitting back-to-back singles to start the inning. Odubel Herrera and Maikel Franco followed with a strike out and a foul out, respectively. However, Ryan Howard made sure the early hits weren't wasted, singling to right field. Reds right fielder Jay Bruce's fielding error allowed Morton to score and giving the Phils the lead.

The Reds fought back in the bottom of the inning, with catcher Tucker Barnhart getting a one out walk, Morton's first of the day. One out later, center fielder Scott Schebler lined a double into left-center. Despite a solid throw from Herrera, Barnhart's slide managed to avoid the tag from Carlos Ruiz. It seemed to be a close play, but replays showed that the home plate umpire made the right call.

The Phils quickly took back the lead in the next inning, with Cedric Hunter blasting his first major league home-run into the right field bleachers. The 398 feet homer in the top of the fourth was a big achievement for Hunter, as the Phillies broadcasters noticed that he never received the ball from his first major league hit in 2011, during his short stint with the San Diego Padres.

Reds first baseman Joey Votto and left fielder Adam Duvall led off the bottom of the fourth with back-to-back singles. Jay Bruce made up for his costly error in the third inning with a three-run homer to right, giving the Reds a 4-2 lead. One out later, shortstop Ivan De Jesus walked and quickly stole second base. Barnhart followed with a single, putting runners on first and third. A sacrifice bunt by starting pitcher Robert Stephenson put runners on second and third, despite getting the second out of the inning.

Morton was then taken out and Daniel Stumpf entered the game for his major league debut. Stumpf walked the first batter he faced, and then allowed a grand slam to third baseman Eugenio Suarez, who had homered earlier in the series. Two of the four runs were charged to Morton, as they were his responsibility. Another walk after the grand slam ended Stumpf's poor showing and Brett Oberholtzer entered the game for his Phillies debut.

Oberholtzer allowed a walk to Duvall, and Bruce singled to knock in another run (charged to Stumpf's line). An error by Herrera allowed Duvall to advance to third on the play. A deep fly out finally ended the inning. The Reds racked up eight runs total in the fourth, with Bruce knocking in four of them.

The Phils started to chip at the Reds' lead in the top of the fifth, with Franco getting a two-out walk and Howard following with his first home-run of the year, which was also his twelfth at Great American Ballpark, a no-doubt-about-it shot to dead center field.

Thanks to a second homer by Bruce, the Reds tacked on another run in the seventh. This brought their lead over the Phils to six runs.

In the top of the eighth, the Phils started to chip at the Reds' lead again. Hunter walked with one out and Ruiz followed with a two-run, second deck homer. It's important to note that these are the first runs that the Reds' bullpen have allowed this series. Peter Bourjos followed with a double, but he was stranded at second.

The Reds threatened in the bottom of the eighth against right-hander Dalier Hinojosa. Schebler and Suarez hit back to back singles to start the inning. However, he was able to rebound and get the next two batters, before picking off Suarez to end the inning.

The ninth inning lacked any kind of genuine effort towards making a comeback and as a result, the Phillies couldn't overcome the four run deficit.

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Starting Pitchers

	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Charlie Morton	3.2	5	6	6	2	3	1	14.73
Robert Stephenson	5.0	6	4	3	2	1	2	5.40

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At the Plate

Phillies

1 Cedric Hunter: 1-3, HR, 1 RBI, 2 R, 1 BB, .125 AVG
2 Ryan Howard: 2-5, HR, 2 RBI, 1 R, .333 AVG
3 Carlos Ruiz: 2-3, HR, 2 RBI, 1 R, 1 BB, .429 AVG

Reds

1 Jay Bruce: 3-4, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 2 R, .500 AVG
2 Eugenio Suarez: 2-5, HR, 4 RBI, 1 R, .333 AVG
3 Scott Schebler: 2-4, 1 RBI, 1 R, 1 BB .444 AVG

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Bullpen

Phillies

Daniel Stumpf (4th): 0.0 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 0 SO, 1 HR, -.– ERA
Brett Oberholtzer (4th, 5th, 6th, 7th): 3.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO, 1 HR, 2.70 ERA
Dalier Hinojosa (8th): 1.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 13.50 ERA

Reds