On this night it was Santiago Espinal, Will Benson, Elly De La Cruz, Justin Wilson and Fernando Cruz.
—Espinal produced two hits, a sacrifice fly and three RBIs. He entered Tuesday’s game hitting .119. In the last two games he went 5 for 7 with five RBIs, lifting his batting average to .208.
—Benson, batting leadoff for the first time this season, crushed a home run and drove in another run with a single against left-hander Matt Strahm.
—De La Cruz was, well, De La Cruz. Batting second in the order, he had three hits and stole three bases and leads the league with 15 thefts.
He stole an insurance run in the eighth with a single, stole second, stole third and scored on Spencer Steer’s sacrifice fly to make it 7-4.
—Lefty relief pitcher Justin Wilson entered the game in the sixth with two outs, runners on second and third with the Reds trailing, 2-1. He had to face Kyle Schwarber and retired him on a pop up.
—Cruz, Mr. Clutch Situation, came into the game in the seventh with the Reds ahead, 5-4, with Phillies on third and second with one out.
He struck out Edmundo Sosa and retired pinch-hitter Brandon Marsh on a hard line drive that right fielder Benson flagged down near the wall.
Reds starter Nick Lodolo was off, but battled his way through five innings, holding the Phillies to three runs and six hits in five-plus innings.
When he gave up two hits to open the sixth, manager David Bell went to the bullpen and six relief pitchers shut down the Phillies on one run and five hits over the last four innings.
The bullpen participants in order were Lucas Sims, Justin Wilson, Emilio Pagan, Fernando Cruz, Brent Suter and closer Alexis Diaz.
The Reds were facing Philadelphia starter Spencer Turnbull, 2-and-0 with a 1.23 earned run average. And he was as advertised.
He gave up one run and three hits in five innings and the one run was Benson’s third-inning home run.
Philadelphia manager Rob Thomson turned the game over to his bullpen in the sixth and it was disastrous.
The Reds scored four runs in the sixth, turning a 3-1 deficit into a 5-3 lead. Five Phillies relief pitchers gave up six runs, seven hits and four walks in three innings.
Espinal, acquired late in spring training via a trade with Toronto, contributed a two-run single during the four-run sixth and Benson chipped in with a run-scoring single.
And he has played the last three games due to the absence of regular second baseman Jonathan India, out with illness.
“We’re a family here and the first day I got here I felt as if I’d been here from day one,” said Espinal during a post-game interview with Bally Sports Ohio. “I appreciate the boys. I appreciate the coaches who all welcomed me with open arms.”
Espinal is playing second base during India’s absence and has played third and the outfield and said, “Of course, I’ll play anywhere. Anything for the team.”
The Reds have won five of six and have beaten the Phillies in four of six games. And at 14-10 they are four games over .500 for the first time this season.
“Any win is great … with our bullpen, pitching, hitting, defense, everything has been great and we just have to keep going out there to compete,” said Espinal.
After Benson’s home run, Bell permitted him to bat against lefty Matt Strahm during the four-run sixth, even though he has struggled against southpaws. He singled home the inning’s fourth run for a 5-3 lead.
Asked if he liked the home run or the single against the lefthander, Benson smiled broadly and said, “The hit against the lefty. I love to come up in those big situations, obviously stay in the game and be productive.
“I’m very grateful and I don’t take it lightly,” he said about Bell permitting to hit against
Strahm. “There were things I worked on in the off-season and when the opportunity presents itself you just try to cash in and lock in.”
For Cruz, it was the second straight escape act. On Tuesday, he came into the game with the bases loaded and one out and locked up the Phillies with a strikeout and a pop-up.
“It’s amazing and I’m happy for him, he’s a great man,” Benson said about Cruz. “To see him performing well it makes it all so sweet. We can punch his number and we know what we’re going to get from him. That’s comforting for us in these tight situations.”
The only problem for the Reds has been Alec Bohm, who was 4-for-4 and drove in two runs after going 2-for-4 Tuesday. But Reds pitching has kept the rest of the Phillies quiet the last two games.
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