PHILADELPHIA – Nick Castellanos wasn’t happy when a 96-mph pitch hit him on his left shoulder in the fourth inning, lingering around home plate as he tossed down his bat and elbow guard.
The anger was understandable on a muggy, 91-degree evening. Castellanos missed a few weeks after the All-Star break because a pitch to his right wrist. He missed the Reds’ previous game because his foot swelled up from a hit by a pitch.
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Joey Votto was on deck and he walked up to Castellanos just to make sure he felt OK. Nothing personal, but he sure made Philadelphia Phillies ace Zack Wheeler pay for it when he drilled a three-run homer over the center-field wall.
Tyler Mahle did the rest of the heavy lifting, carrying the Cincinnati Reds to a 6-1 victory at Citizens Bank Park in front of 26,074 fans.
"He’s so locked in, it’s unbelievable to watch," Mahle said of Votto. "It’s crazy to watch. I don’t know how else to put it. He goes up there and he’s spitting on stuff and then as soon as they throw him a strike or something he wants, he hits it every time. It’s crazy."
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Mahle outdueled Wheeler with one of his best starts of the season. tossed seven shutout innings, matching his career-high for the seventh time. He permitted three hits, including one that didn’t leave the infield, and he struck out seven.
"It’s tough to think of one that was any better than that," Reds manager David Bell said. "That was outstanding."
Mahle had everything working against the Phillies, firing 95-mph fastballs, a splitter that made lefties look silly and a consistent slider. He didn’t walk any batters for his second consecutive start.
It was a 108-pitch clinic from the 26-year-old Mahle. The Reds needed him to have a breakout season after losing two starters from their rotation in the offseason and this is what they envisioned. He’s always overpowered hitters with his fastball, but the development of his splitter and slider have taken him to another level.
"Today was a huge game for me," Mahle said. "It was my dad’s birthday and he told me to get a win for him. I just wanted to pitch well for him."
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After J.T. Realmuto hit a leadoff single in the second inning, Mahle retired the next nine batters. Didi Gregorius ended the streak when he laced a leadoff double down the first-base line in the fifth inning. Mahle’s response? Strikeout, groundout, flyout.
Mahle faced Gregorius again in the seventh inning with a runner on first base. They locked into an eight-pitch battle with four foul balls. Then Mahle spun a splitter past Gregorius for a strikeout on his 105th pitch.
Gregorius hit his double off a splitter, so Mahle thought it showed catcher Tucker Barnhart's faith in him because he called for another one.
"He was swinging, swinging and swinging, and (Barnhart) called it again," Mahle said. "He told me, ‘get it off the plate,’ and I did. It was a great pitch. Kudos to him for having faith in that pitch and in me in that scenario."
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Mahle even had a 10-pitch at-bat against Wheeler before a groundout in the fifth inning. Bell saw it as a sign Mahle had "a different level of concentration and focus out there."
What did Mahle think about matching up with Wheeler, who is a top contender for the National League Cy Young?
"It doesn’t matter really who is out there," Mahle said. "We’re just trying to win a ballgame. I think all the pressure is on the offense because they have to hit and put up runs to win. The pressure is not on me. I just have to go out and execute pitches and let them make plays."
The Reds scored all six of their runs through homers, but it started with something much smaller. After Wheeler cruised through the Reds lineup in the first three innings, Tyler Naquin opened the fourth with a routine ground ball to first base.
Naquin sprinted out of the batter’s box, first baseman Brad Miller was indecisive, and Naquin was rewarded with an infield single for his hustle.
"That was game-changing, that was momentum-changing, that was exactly what we needed at that time," Votto said. "I fed off of that."
Castellanos was hit by the next pitch and Votto completed the snowballing with his 26th home run of the season. Wheeler was upset with himself for throwing a cutter in the same place on back-to-back pitches to Votto.
Despite missing a month with a broken thumb, Votto has the second-most homers in the NL. He's hit 15 homers in his last 22 games, and the last three all came after Castellanos was hit by a pitch, which Votto says is a coincidence.
Castellanos had his own chance for payback in the sixth inning, his next at-bat against Wheeler, with a drive into deep left field to make it a 4-0 ballgame.
Eugenio Suárez, starting at shortstop for the first time in May to give Kyle Farmer a day off, added a two-run homer off Phillies reliever David Paulino in the ninth inning. It was Suárez’s 23rd homer of the season.
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