Kyle Schwarber looks to continue his homer-happy season in his hometown as the visiting Philadelphia Phillies battle the host Cincinnati Reds in the middle contest of a three-game series on Tuesday.
Schwarber did it again Monday night, belting his 13th career homer at Great American Ball Park, the most in any stadium that he has not called home at one point in his career.
In 48 career games in Cincinnati, he has 32 RBIs. Schwarber socked his 42nd homer of the season to highlight a four-run, two-out rally in the eighth inning as the Philadelphia beat the Reds 4-1 on Monday.
The Phillies moved 20 games over .500 for the first time this season at 69-49. Philadelphia improved to 4-0 at the start of a 10-game road swing through Texas, Cincinnati and Washington.
Schwarber, 32, was born and raised in Middletown, Ohio, around 40 miles north of Cincinnati, and grew up a Reds fan.
Schwarber is set to become a free agent at the end of the season.
“(During the All-Star break, I was) asked the question, ‘If things don’t work out, would you ever think about Cincinnati?’” Schwarber said before the Monday game. “I mean, absolutely, right? I grew up watching the team, and people (say) why wouldn’t want to play for a hometown team, but there’s so many different aspects that go in the free agency and everything like that.”
Before Philadelphia’s rally in the eighth, the highlights of the night for the Reds included Andrew Abbott retiring the first 12 batters he faced along with three tremendous defensive plays. The last one involved newly installed right fielder Noelvi Marte, who threw out Bryce Harper at the plate on a fly to right field to end the seventh inning.
“He’s got a great arm, and he’s working hard out there,” said teammate Gavin Lux, who saw the play from his spot in left field. “He’s brand new. He’s played 15 games out there, not even. So he’s already got two assists. And he’s really talented, so it’s, I think he’s going to be really good out there for a long time.”
Third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes and shortstop Elly De La Cruz also had stellar plays in the field to keep it 1-0 Cincinnati until the eighth.
However, a lack of offense stymied the Reds. So far in August, Cincinnati has scored three runs or fewer in eight of is 10 games.
The Phillies will send left-hander Ranger Suarez (8-5, 2.94 ERA) to the mound on Tuesday, making his second start of the season against Cincinnati. He received a no-decision in Philadelphia’s 5-1 home win on July 5, allowing one run on five hits in five innings, striking out six and walking two.
Lifetime against Cincinnati, Suarez is 2-0 with a 2.12 ERA in nine appearances (five starts).
Over his past six starts, Suarez is 1-3 with a 4.89 ERA. Most recently, he lost to the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday after permitting five runs on nine hits in 6 1/3 innings.
The Reds will counter with right-hander Brady Singer (9-8, 4.53 ERA). In his only career start against Philadelphia, Singer allowed five runs on 11 hits in five innings during an 11-2 Phillies win at Kansas City on Aug. 24, 2024.
Singer is coming off a rocky outing on Thursday at Pittsburgh, where he allowed four runs on six hits in 3 2/3 innings.