Burns Scorches Phillies

By Hal McCoy

Cincinnati Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson said it best after his team stopped the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-1, Tuesday night in Citizens Bank Park.

“It’s great to have Chase Burns go out there every fifth day, especially the way he is pitching right now,” he said.

Secretly, most of the Res probably wish Burns could go out there every day.

On Tuesday, against the hard-hitting Phillies, Burns shut them down tighter than the lid of a new ketchup bottle — six innings, one run, three hits, no walks, nine strikeouts.

At one point mid-game, he struck out six of seven batters. He went to 3-and-2 six times and struck out all six with his high heat and down-slashing slider.

It was Burns’ fifth straight win and his overall record is 6-1 with a 1.83 earned run average. During the five straight wins, he has pitched 43 1/3 innings, given up six runs, 26 hits, walked 10 and struck out 47.

The only blemish was a third-inning two-out home run by Trea Turner. After that, Burns set down the last 10 batters he faced.

And on this night the bullpen came through. Pierce Johnson, Sam Moll and Tony Santillan each pitched an inning and only one Phillie reached base.

Johnson started the seventh and walked Alec Bohm, then went 1-2-3. Sam Moll went 1-2-3 in the eighth and Santillan went 1-2-3 in the ninth for his second save.

“HIs slider is a really good pitch, but it works because he establishes his fastball,” said Reds manager Tito Francona, evaluating Burns’ performance.

“He speeds them up, then the slider is a pretty devastating pitch,” he added. “He left one up to Turner (home run), but for the most part, especially against their lefties, it’s a hard pitch to lay off of.”

There is no doubt that the 23-year-old Burns is the team’s stopper. This time he stopped a three-game losing streak.

“There have been games where we’ve really been up against it and he’s given us what we needed,” said Francona. “He’s been really good. He’s like Sal Stewert, he’s good, he’s young and he’s learning fast.”

After several awful appearances, Santillan appears to have rediscovered how to be successful. In the ninth he struck out Bryce Harper and Alex Bohm (on a challenge by Stephenson) to end the game.

Asked if Santillan has turned a corner, Francona said, “It looks like it. (Pitching coach) Derek Johnson put some tweaks in his breaking ball. It’s nice to see him take it, because he means so much to us.”

With close Emilio Pagan on the injured list, the Reds need a lights-out back end closer and Santillan is the prime suspect.”

Offensively, the Reds took advantage of a slew of Philadelphia mistakes, three by first baseman Bryce Harper to score two runs in the fourth and two in the seventh.

Turner’s home run gave the Phillies a 1-0 lead, but the Reds grabbed a 2-0 advantage in the fourth.

It began when Elly De La Cruz lined one to left center and center fielder Justin Crawford overran it. The ball ticked off his glove and De La Cruz had his first triple of the year.

Spencer Steer grounded one toward second and first baseman Harper cut in front of second baseman Bryson Stott. That left first base unoccupied and Steer had an infield single, extending his streak of hits to 20 of the last 21 games.

De La Cruz remained at third on the play. On a 2-and-2 pitch to Sal Stewart, umpire Will Little called strike three. Stewart challenged and it was ball three. Then he walked to fill the bases.

Dane Myers and JJ Bleday hit back-to-back sacrifice flies for two runs.

It was more flubbery by the Phillies in the seventh, not characteristic of a team that had won 16 of its last 20.

Tanner Banks replaced Phillies starter Jesus Luzardo in the seventh and Bleday pulled his first pitch into the right field corner for a double.

Then Harper did it again. Once again he cut in front of second baseman Stott on speedy Blake Dunn’s slow roller. Harper’s hurried throw to the pitcher covering first was wild for an error, sending Bleday to third and Dunn to second.

Stephenson, who was on base four straight times with a single and three walks, walked to fill the bases.

That brought up Ke’Bryan Hayes, who had hit into double plays his first two times. This time he grounded to short and Bleday was forced out at home.

Then it was Harper mess-up time again

Matt McLain grounded to him and he tried for a force play at home. He bounced the throw, but umpire Little called Dunn out at home. The Reds challenged and the call was reverses — the hustling Dunn beat the throw and it was 3-1.

With the bases still loaded, relief pitcher Jonathan Bowlan walked De La Cruz, forcing in the fourth run.

Dunn is playing more and more as if he should be the regular right fielder. His speed was evident three times — beating out the infield hit when he forced Harper’s rushed throw, scoring from third on the challenge play, and making a long running catch in foul territory for the first out of the ninth.

“He’s playing the whole game,” said Francona about Dunn. “He’s just playing the game. He gets down the line, he got that good jump at third and he made a really nice catch in right field. He’s just playing the game. That’s a good way to put it.”

There was a slight scare on the last batter Burns faced. Harper smoked one up the middle that hit Burns on the upper inner thigh.

“That scared me,” said Francona. “When he got up, I though he was OK. But when he got to the dugout (limping), I thought he was dead.

“I asked him, ‘Hey, man, please tell me you have a protective cup on,’” Francona continued. “He told me no and I said, ‘I don’t even watch TV without a cup on. You guys are crazy.’”

Burns, though, said he is OK and will be back on the mound in five days giving the Reds their best possible chance to win a game.