Sometimes it’s the smallest things, a well-placed infield chopper or a broken-bat bloop over someone’s head, that shakes an offense from a long, deep, seemingly ceaseless teamwide hibernation.
For the Phillies, it was the smallest player.
Ronald Torreyes, all of 5-foot-8 and 155 pounds, hit his first major league home run in 1,402 days in the third inning Tuesday night. It was a solo number that barely curled inside the left-field foul pole, a cheapie even by the standards of Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park.
But the Phillies aren’t in any position to turn down a gift. And the long and short of it was that their shortstop’s long ball turned on a spigot that was shut off for the season’s first two months. It started a club-record-tying seven-homer onslaught in a 17-3 knee-slapper that ended a three-game losing skid and represented the Phillies’ largest offensive output in 55 games.
It was bound to happen, first baseman Rhys Hoskins said one day earlier after the Phillies endured a 10-run Memorial Day embarrassment in the same ballpark against the same opponent. But who could see this happening so soon? Surely not anyone who watched them score a total of 13 runs in their previous six games, a dry spell that reached rock bottom with an 0-for-9 showing with runners in scoring position Monday.
The Phillies overcame an early two-run deficit with solo homers by Torreyes and Odúbel Herrera in the third inning, went ahead in the fourth on a two-out RBI single by cratering Alec Bohm, and then really poured it on with one run in the fifth, six in the sixth, three in the eighth, and Matt Joyce’s grand slam off Reds infielder Alex Blandino in the ninth.
In addition to Torreyes, Hoskins, and Joyce, Andrew McCutchen and Herrera each went deep twice, the latter unleashing his signature bat flip both times. The Phillies doubled their season-high for homers in a game — and then added one. The last time they hit seven was July 26, 2018, also at the Cincinnati launch pad.
OK, let’s pause for perspective. It was one game. In Cincinnati. And the Phillies came into it ranked 10th in the 15-team National League in runs scored and 11th in OPS. They were averaging 3.9 runs per game, a steep decline from last season (5.1) with an almost identical lineup.
But given the depths of the Phillies’ struggles, especially during this road trip, it must have felt cathartic.
“We have a lot of baseball left,” Hoskins said Monday, a reminder that he said some of his teammates may need after the urgency of last season’s 60-game pandemic sprint. “Especially in the Northeast and in Philly, when the summer months come, we get some [injured] guys back and we get some guys feeling more like themselves, we’re going to score some runs.
“Something is going to happen. Some big moment is going to happen. It’s kind of just going to click because that’s usually how it goes. [We’re] frustrated, for sure. But we’re still working our butts off, and it’s going to change.”
It wasn’t only the home runs that served as a positive sign for the Phillies, who continue to play without injured Bryce Harper (bruised left wrist/forearm) and Didi Gregorius (swollen right elbow).
Bohm, hitless in 12 at-bats after a second-inning strikeout to leave his average at .202, delivered three hits, including the go-ahead single against Reds starter Sonny Gray. Herrera finished with three hits out of the leadoff spot. And Torreyes added an RBI double for good measure in the sixth inning.
Lost amid all the scoring: A milestone for Aaron Nola, who recorded his 1,000th career strikeout in fewer innings than any pitcher in Phillies history.
Nola dragged a four-start winless streak (three losses, one no-decision) to the mound with him. But he has mostly outpitched the bottom-line results, as evidenced by the differential between his ERA (3.72) and FIP (2.96), which takes into account only strikeouts, walks, home runs, and other outcomes that don’t involve the defense.
Against the Reds, he grappled with his command. His most notable instance of missed location came in the second inning, when he left a belt-high change-up over the middle of the plate for Tyler Naquin to launch into the right-field bleachers for a two-run homer that gave the Reds a lead.
For a change, though, the Phillies’ defense worked for Nola, turning inning-ending double plays in the second, third, and fourth. He recorded only two strikeouts, his fewest in a start since April 3, 2019, when he fanned two Washington Nationals.
But the second — an inning-ending punchout of Jesse Winker in the fifth — made history. He became the ninth pitcher in Phillies history to reach 1,000 career strikeouts. But in reaching the mark in 913 innings, he got there faster than the others, surpassing Cole Hamels (1,046 2/3 innings). Nola, three days shy of his 28th birthday, also joined Hamels and Steve Carlton as the only Phillies pitchers to rack up 1,000 strikeouts before turning 28.
