Thursday, October 1, 2026
79 ° Clear
79 ° Clear
Rookie Justin Crawford continued his impressive first-year campaign after driving in the only run in a 1-0 Phillies victory over the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ballpark on Thursday night.
It is the eighth road series win of the 2026 campaign and the 16th series victory overall for Philadelphia. With the Atlanta Braves taking two of three from the Pittsburgh Pirates in a midweek series, Philly still trails Atlanta by three games in the race for the National League East crown, with three games remaining until the 2026 MLB All-Star Game in Philadelphia next week.
First-time All-Star Jesus Luzardo and Reds starter Brady Singer were locked in a pitcher’s duel that stretched into the eighth inning before the Phillies added a run. Luzardo was nearly untouchable, allowing just two hits while striking out 11 Reds hitters and walking two batters.
Jonathan Bowlan picked up his fourth hold of the season in a clean eighth inning, and All-Star Jhoan Duran added two more strikeouts to his total of 50 punchouts on the way to his 23rd save of the season.
The Phillies' offense struggled against Singer for most of the night, but the team in road grey found some traction in the seventh inning. The 29-year-old starter lost his command late in the ballgame, resulting in Alec Bohm (seventh inning) and Gabriel Rincones Jr. (eighth inning) being hit by pitches in consecutive innings.
Reds skipper Terry Francona, the Phillies bench boss from 1997 to 2000, called for Sam Moll out of the bullpen to clean up the inning, but Crawford smacked a screaming, skipping ball off the green grass past a diving Edwin Arroyo, allowing Rincones Jr. to plate the game’s lone run.
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Moll struck out the next two Phillies hitters, but the damage to the scoreboard was already done.
Philadelphia finished out the unofficial first half of the regular season against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park in Detroit, Michigan.
Pitching fans should be in for a treat with a trio of electric pitching matchups on deck for the series: Aaron Nola vs. Jack Flaherty tonight, Cristopher Sanchez against Casey Mize on Saturday, and Zack Wheeler vs. Tarik Skubal in the main event before a week-long break to celebrate MLB’s annual Mid-Summer Classic, the 2026 MLB All-Star Game, right here in our fine City of Brotherly Love.
