Reds go for first series win in Philly since 2006
The Cincinnati Reds are hoping to do something Sunday the franchise has not accomplished in more than a decade: Win a series in the City of Brotherly Love.
Cincinnati has not taken a series at Citizens Bank Park since August 2006. The Reds are 0-9-1 in their last 10 series in Philadelphia and are looking to buck that trend in Sunday's rubber game of a weekend series.
Scott Feldman will take the mound for the Reds. Feldman, a 13-year veteran, has faced every major league team during his career. He has just one outing against the Phillies, however, and it came on Opening Day of the 2017 season.
Feldman's 2017 did not get off to the best start as he allowed a homer to the first batter he faced, Phillies second baseman Cesar Hernandez. Feldman gave up three runs and seven hits in that game as he failed to get through five innings, but the right-hander has been better lately.
Feldman (3-4, 3.99 ERA) has gone at least six innings in three of his last four starts, which includes a complete-game shutout against the San Francisco Giants on May 7.
In his last outing, Feldman held Cleveland to one run in six innings and struck out a season-best nine batters. It came on the heels of a start where he gave up five earned runs to the Chicago Cubs in less than three innings.
"You never want to throw up a clanker like that (start against the Cubs), but you have to have a short memory in this game," Feldman told MLB.com after his last start. "And baseball's just one of those funny games. You have some good and some bad, and you've just got to try to battle."
The Phillies will send right-hander Zach Eflin to the mound. Eflin has struggled in his last two starts after looking solid through his first five appearances.
In his last two outings, Eflin (0-2, 5.36 ERA) has combined to surrender 15 earned runs and 21 hits in 10 innings against the Texas Rangers and Colorado Rockies. His ERA has nearly doubled in those games, going from 2.81 to 5.36.
"It's frustrating, but it happens. It's baseball," Eflin said after his last start. "There are going to be times in my career where I give up a lot of hits and a lot of runs, but I'm really not worried about it right now. I'm going to continue to work at it and go hard every fifth day."
The Phillies are hoping they can use Saturday's 4-3 walk-off win over the Reds as a turning point in what has been a lousy month. Philadelphia has lost 21 of its last 27 games, and it has not won a series since taking two games against Miami on April 26-27.
"We know what we're capable of," said first baseman Tommy Joseph, who hit a walk-off single in Saturday's win. "We have a great team in here, it's a matter of playing great as a team, and we were able to show that (Saturday)."
