CINCINNATI (AP) Bryce Harper drove in his 100th run with a single, J.T. Realmuto had a pair of hits and a sacrifice fly, and the Philadelphia Phillies won their third in a row Tuesday night, 6-2 over the Cincinnati Reds.
The Phillies began the day 2+ games behind the Cubs for the final NL wild card.
Harper’s fifth-inning single made him the first Phillie since Ryan Howard in 2011 to have 30 homers and 100 RBIs in the same season. Harper hit his 30th homer in the series opener, a 7-1 Phillies win on Monday. The last Phillies outfielder to have 30 homers and 100 RBIs in a season was Pat Burrell in 2005.
Harper’s single also gave him an 11-game hitting streak.
Left-hander Amir Garrett (4-2) walked a pair of batters and gave up Cesar Hernandez’s RBI single that put the Phillies ahead to stay. Realmuto doubled, singled, tied the game 1-1 with a sacrifice fly and scored on Rhys Hoskins’ sacrifice fly. Scott Kingery homered in the ninth.
Nick Vincent (1-2) pitched an inning in relief of Vince Velasquez, who lasted three innings and allowed Aristides Aquino’s RBI single .
The fading Reds followed their pattern of scoring in the first inning and then going cold. They’ve scored a club-record 43 runs in the opening inning. The Reds have lost nine of their last 13 games.
MOVES
Phillies: Infielder Jose Pirela and right-handed reliever Nick Pivetta were recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley. The Phillies got Pirela from the Padres in July.
Reds: Right-hander Keury Mella and utility player Brian O’Grady were recalled from Triple-A Louisville.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Phillies: Zach Eflin is expected to make his next start as scheduled. Eflin had some tightness in his oblique in his last start, a 5-2 win over the Mets on Sunday.
Reds: Third baseman Eugenio Suarez was out of the lineup a second straight day with a sore left hand, which was hit by a pitch Sunday.
UP NEXT
Phillies: Aaron Nola (12-4) tries to get to 13 wins for the second time in his career. He went 17-6 last season. In five career starts against the Reds, he’s 2-1 with a 2.86 ERA.
Reds: Trevor Bauer (10-12) pitches on short rest for the fifth time in his career. He gave up six runs in only four innings of a 10-6 loss at St. Louis on Sunday. Bauer is 1-5 with an 8.40 ERA with Cincinnati.
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