Brady Singer allowed three hits over six shutout innings while Miguel Andujar homered for the second time in three games to lead the Cincinnati Reds to a 6-1 win over the visiting Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday night.
Spencer Steer doubled and drove in three runs and Jose Trevino went 2-for-4 and drove in two as the Reds won for the third time in four games, extending their MLB-best streak of not being swept this season to 39 series.
With heavy rain falling, Bryce Harper launched a towering homer, his 18th, to the seats in right with two outs in the ninth to end the shutout bid. The Phillies had their four-game win streak snapped and lost for the first time in five tries on their 10-game, three-city road trip.
For the second straight night, a Cincinnati starter retired the first 12 Philadelphia batters, as Singer was perfect through four innings, striking out five in the process.
Like Monday night, the first batter of the fifth ended the run at perfection when Nick Castellanos hit a one-hopper that Elly De La Cruz played to the side and let carom off his glove for what was ruled a base hit. But Castellanos was erased on an inning-ending double play off the bat of Edmundo Sosa, as Singer faced the minimum of 15 batters through five.
Unlike the night before with Andrew Abbott, the Reds provided a bit more offensive support, taking a 2-0 lead in the third on a two-run double from Steer off Phillies starter Ranger Suarez (8-6).
The Reds added another in the fourth when Andujar lined an 81mph slider from Suarez down the left field line and just inside the foul pole for his eighth homer of the season and second with the Reds after he was acquired from the Athletics at the trade deadline.
Andujar, acquired for his production against left-handed pitching, is now 21-for-51 (.412) on the season and three home runs off of lefties.
Suarez was tagged for six runs on a season-high ten hits over 5 1/3 innings, suffering his fourth loss in six starts after starting the season 7-2.
Singer (10-9) worked around a two-out single from Rafael Marchan followed with a double by Trea Turner in the sixth to preserve his run-free start.
After the Reds put up three runs in the bottom of the sixth, the tarp was put on the infield just before thunder and rain rolled through the area. Following a brief 28-minute rain delay, Graham Ashcraft started the seventh in relief of Singer.
–Field Level Media
