We’ll get there one day: Reds 8, Phillies 5

One day, the Phillies might find a way to put together a winning streak of at least five games. But if its going to happen, we’ll have to wait at least more five games. Thanks to a bad night by Aaron Nola and the bullpen, the Phillies modest three-game streak came to an end on Wednesday night as they fell 8-5 to the Reds.

Heading into the game, the Phillies seemed to have an advantage in the starting pitching matchup. Aaron Nola - despite the team losing his previous two starts - has been very good in the second half, while Trevor Bauer has not. True to form, Bauer was ineffective on Wednesday, but unfortunately, Nola decided to follow suit.

Joey Votto got the scoring started with a solo home run in the first, and the Reds added four more in the second.

To his credit, Nola held the Reds scoreless for the next two innings, giving his teammates a chance to do some damage against Bauer. And damage is exactly what they did. Two-run homers by Logan Morrison and J.T. Realmuto got them within one run, and Jay Bruce evened things up in the seventh with a solo shot.

The blasts by Morrison and Bruce came as pinch hitters, which isn’t something that happens very often.

Having erased a five-run deficit, Phillies fans might have felt like the fourth win in a row was close at hand. Unfortunately, thanks to Nola’s early exit, the bullpen was forced to cover a lot of innings for the second straight night. On Tuesday, that worked out well. On Wednesday, it did not.

Jose Iglesias put the Reds on top, and Michael Lorenzen provided some insurance. And yes, Lorenzen is indeed a pitcher, but no, this doesn’t mean that the National League shouldn’t adopt the designated hitter.

The damage might have been even worse if not for this amazing catch by Adam Haseley:

And so ends the Phillies’ winning streak, modest as it was. The good news is that there won’t be much turnaround before tomorrow’s series finale. Perhaps the next winning streak - one that won’t be halted at three games - is only a few hours away.