Went Wrong with the Wrong Handers: Reds 11, Phillies 5

José Alvarado’s 2026 season had already been messy. There were positives to hope for as the season goes on, there was generally some brutal BABIP and situational luck that helped inflate his ERA. Even with that, there is only so much you can argue for someone who entered tonight’s game with an ERA over six.

Then tonight’s bottom of the sixth inning happened. It took him 35 pitches because he had to face seven hitters. Three of them ended with walks to first base and with two outs, Noelvi Marte caught an inside cutter right off the left field chalk that put tonight’s game completely out of reach.

It seemed like a sure thing to pick up Alvarado’s nine-million-dollar club option after 2025, even with his PEDs suspension that derailed a promising season. It was not going to be easy to find left handers at a similar rate, especially since they moved on from Matt Strahm later in the winter.

Through 32.0 innings, Alvarado now carries a 7.04 ERA and no matter what happens over the next month, finding a left handed reliever has become a major need at the upcoming trade deadline.

Tanner Banks made his first appearance with the Phillies since being recalled, following Alan Rangel in a one-run game in the fourth. Edwin Arroyo immediately greeted Banks with a triple past Gabriel Rincones jr (that should’ve been a single).

After a TJ Friedl failed bunt attempt, three of the Reds’ top-of-the-lineup hitters stepped to the batter’s box. Elly De La Cruz smoked a slider to right field to make it 5-2. Sal Stewart muscled a fastball to right field that just barely got out of Great American Ballpark for his second home run of the night. To cap the inning off, JJ Bleday smoked a hanging slider to make it 7-2, sending Banks to the showers after recording just a single out in a preplanned bullpen game.

So besides that, how was the play Mrs. Lincoln?

The Phillies put together really good at bats against Chase Burns all night, drawing six walks, scoring three runs, and making him throw 106 pitches just to get through five innings. Gabriel Rincones Jr is starting to look the part of being a semi-productive strong platoon side corner bat. He is probably not an outfielder but he did smoke a double to center field off Burns and eventually scored on a Justin Crawford triple. Kyle Schwarber pulled a Chris Paul and hit home run number 32 in the ninth inning that made me change the score on the title.

Speaking of Justin Crawford, his two hits tonight have raised his OPS to .666. It’s a funny number.

This was also a game to see how some relievers would do. Max Lazar was called up yesterday and pitched a solid 1.1 innings of work, looking like the same AAAA pitcher he’s always been. Throw more splitters.

Brad Keller pitched for the Phillies for the first time since June 13, the outing where he gave up three runs against the Brewers that nearly cost the Phillies a game. It was a productive mop-up inning as a tune-up. He should probably just slot in as Mattingly’s most trusted non-closer leverage arm.

Final thoughts: The ESPN broadcast was a mess. Adam Ottavino seems like a sharp guy with some potential, he knows how to talk about the modern game and can explain difficult concepts well but still needs refinement because he hasn’t been doing this for a while.

Karl Ravech, we know what Karl Ravech is. David Ross would not stop talking and didn’t exactly say much of substance either. It was very Ben Davis-like, which is not a comparison you want to receive (as a broadcaster, Ross was a way better catcher).