Cincinnati Reds'
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Cincinnati Reds Press Clippings May 29, 2017 THIS DAY IN REDS HISTORY 1879-Following a loss, 20-6, to Troy the day before, Will White shaves off his mustache for good luck, then leads the Reds to a victory, 4-2, over the same team MLB.COM Reds hit 5 homers, win series against Phillies By Todd Zolecki and Mark Sheldon / MLB.com | May 28th, 2017 + 138 COMMENTS PHILADELPHIA -- One streak ended and another continued Sunday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park. The Reds powered their way to an 8-4 victory over the Phillies with five home runs: two from Adam Duvall, two from Patrick Kivlehan and one from Scott Schebler. It was the first multi-homer game of Kivlehan's career. The victory snapped Cincinnati's 0-9- 1 series winless streak in Philadelphia that dated to Aug. 11-13, 2006. Chris Michalak and Bill Bray got the wins in that long-ago series against the Phillies. "Today was definitely one of those days where everyone was clicking," Kivlehan said. "We've been swinging it well lately. To get the win today and the series win was huge." Reds right-hander Scott Feldman allowed four runs in five innings, but the Reds bullpen threw four scoreless innings to preserve the win. The Phillies have lost nine consecutive series. It is their longest series losing streak since 1997, when they lost 10 consecutive series. "I know that I can pitch at this level," said Phillies right-hander Zach Eflin, who allowed four home runs and was optioned to Triple- A after the game. "There are some things I can work on and I know that I'll come back stronger." MOMENTS THAT MATTERED The Reds answered: Phillies catcher Andrew Knapp hit a three-run home run to center field in the second inning -- projected by Statcast™ to travel 434 feet from home plate, making it the Phillies' longest homer of the season -- as they scored four runs to take a 4-2 lead. But the Reds answered in the third when Duvall hit a two-run homer to left field to tie the game. Duvall added insurance runs in the fifth when he hit a two-run homer on a 0-2 fastball from Eflin, who allowed nine hits and seven runs in five innings. "They were both fastballs. One was down and in and one was kind of up and in. I put good swings on them," said Duvall, who has 13 homers and 43 RBIs this season. Big Red outs: The Phillies had a runner on third with one out in the fifth, but Odubel Herrera and Aaron Altherr struck out swinging to end the inning. Herrera missed badly at a breaking ball out of the strike zone. They had runners on first and second with no outs in the sixth, but Maikel Franco grounded into a double play and Knapp struck out swinging to end the inning. Herrera is hitting .132 with a .309 OPS in 68 plate appearances since May 9. Franco is hitting .185 with a .494 OPS in 69 plate appearances since May 4. Both could see reduced playing time with Howie Kendrick expected to be activated Monday. "I plan on giving him a day off here and there because obviously he's not swinging the bat well," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said about Herrera. QUOTABLE "We've had a couple of stretches where we didn't win many games and there was never, ever a point where things just shut down in the dugout, where the at-bats didn't matter, where the defense didn't matter, where the baserunning or pitching didn't matter. That's a great sign because there are times, or maybe a stretch, where you feel flat. And we haven't had a stretch like that. It's a credit to the guys and how much they enjoy playing together and what our expectations are, which are to exceed everyone else's expectations." -- Reds manager Bryan Price, on his 24-25 club. "He's not giving us consistent at-bats. He's searching both physically and mentally. It's not easy for him. I can tell he's down on himself." -- Mackanin, on Franco's struggles. SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS Kivlehan's second homer snapped the Phillies bullpen's scoreless streak at 22 2/3 innings. It was the bullpen's longest scoreless streak since Sept. 1-11, 2004, when they went 28 innings without allowing a run. WHAT'S NEXT Reds: Toronto native Joey Votto and the Reds will visit Rogers Centre for the first time since 2009 when the road trip continues against the Blue Jays on Monday at 7:07 p.m. ET. Lisalverto Bonilla (0-2, 6.17) will make the start for Cincinnati. Phillies: The Phillies head to Miami for a three-game road trip beginning at 7:10 p.m. ET Monday against the Marlins at Marlins Park. Right-hander Jeremy Hellickson (5-2, 4.28) hopes to finish May on a high note after struggling much of the month. Hellickson had a 1.80 ERA in five starts in April but has a 7.30 ERA in five starts in May. Todd Zolecki has covered the Phillies since 2003, and for MLB.com since 2009. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook and listen to his podcast. Mark Sheldon has covered the Reds for MLB.com since 2006, and previously covered the Twins from 2001-05. Follow him on Twitter @m_sheldon and Facebook and listen to his podcast. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs. #ASGWorthy Duvall has two-homer game Left fielder, Reds have been leaving the yard more frequently By Mark Sheldon / MLB.com | @m_sheldon | May 28th, 2017 + 2 COMMENTS PHILADELPHIA -- The home runs are starting to come in a nice bunch for Adam Duvall and the Reds. The Cincinnati left fielder slugged two more home runs and tied a career high with five RBIs during Sunday's 8-4 win over the Phillies. After he went 15 games without a long ball until Wednesday, he's hit four over his last four games and has 13 homers and 43 RBIs for the season. "I feel like I've been swinging the bat pretty well," said Duvall, who is batting .299 for the month of May. "I feel like everybody's been swinging it pretty well. It's kind of contagious, hitting is." Duvall drove in the first run of the game with a first-inning RBI single, and his first homer of the game was a big one. Reds starter Scott Feldman had just given away a 2-0 lead when he allowed four runs in the bottom of the second inning. With one out following a Joey Votto single in the third, Duvall slugged a 1-0 fastball to left-center field that carried 437 feet for the game-tying two-run homer. According to Statcast™, it was the fourth-longest by a Reds hitter this season. In the top of the fifth with one out, Duvall attacked a 0-2 fastball for a two-run homer to left field to make it 7-4. "I wanted it up and away and it came up and in. He put a good swing on it," said Phillies pitcher Zach Eflin, who gave up both of Duvall's homers and four of the Reds' five overall. "I didn't think it was possible for him to hit that ball out. But it was pretty impressive." Duvall broke out for the Reds in 2016 with 33 homers and 103 RBIs and became a first-time National League All-Star. He's backing it up this year with more solid production, batting .274/.317/.548. "This game has a lot of cycles to it and he's in a really good cycle," Reds manager Bryan Price said. "I just think the way he goes about his business that the really good cycles are going to be longer in duration, and the struggles are going to be shorter. That's where he is as a professional." Cincinnati has hit 17 homers over the last eight games. The club has won five of those games to get back to within a game of .500 at 24-25. "We all try to push ourselves," Duvall said. "We try to make it fun. We play a lot of games throughout the year. Just to keep it from getting monotonous and just mix it up a little bit and have fun." Duvall is a major component to a lineup that Price was speaking optimistically about from the first day of Spring Training. The group has backed it up, especially lately, with 69 runs over the last 12 games -- an average of 5.75 runs per game. "As optimistic as we all were coming out of Spring Training, players still have to go out there and do it," Price said. Mark Sheldon has covered the Reds for MLB.com since 2006, and previously covered the Twins from 2001-05. Follow him on Twitter @m_sheldon and Facebook and listen to his podcast. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs. Peraza making steady progress with bat By Mark Sheldon / MLB.com | @m_sheldon | May 28th, 2017 + 3 COMMENTS PHILADELPHIA -- For all but three of the games during his career-high 13-game hitting streak, Reds second baseman Jose Peraza, has gotten one hit per day. With 12 of his last 16 hits being singles, it's not the stuff of legend but Peraza is making progress after a slow start to 2017.