Numbers don't tell the story: Abbott continues quality streak despite .500 record

CINCINNATI -- As of Tuesday, the Reds had the hardest remaining schedule in Major League Baseball, with their opponents owning a combined .535 win percentage. Their two remaining series before the All-Star break underscore just how difficult of a task Cincinnati has in trying to climb back into contention.

The Phillies currently hold the second spot for the National League Wild Card and the Reds' next opponent, the Cubs, have the top spot. Behind a dominant effort by Zack Wheeler, Philadelphia handed the Reds a 4-1 loss at Great American Ball Park.

"We have to keep on it," said third baseman Eugenio Suárez, who was the only Reds hitter to hurt Wheeler with his leadoff homer in the seventh inning. "It’s been tough the last month and a half, but at the same time, we are baseball players and have to understand that and turn the page quick and go to the next day, and have a better day.”

Losers in seven of their last nine games, the Reds (41-49) are an MLB-worst 21-38 since May 1. That has put them eight games back for the final NL Wild Card berth.

Wheeler, who threw a complete-game one-hitter in his previous start vs. the Reds on July 6, 2025, tied a career high with 14 strikeouts while allowing four hits over seven innings.

That left Reds starting pitcher Andrew Abbott with little margin for error. He retired his first seven batters of the game, but encountered trouble after Derek Hill's one-out double to right field, followed by Justin Crawford's single. With one out and a run in on Trea Turner's groundout, Kyle Schwarber was in a 3-0 count.

The next pitch from Abbott was a fastball up and over the plate. Schwarber clobbered it for a two-run homer to right-center field and a 3-0 Phillies lead.

"I kept a good offense pretty quiet other than one mistake," Abbott said. "But then again, Schwarber is a good hitter. We’re going to live and die by the sword. Fastball is one of my best pitches. He just put a good swing on it.

"Hindsight is 20/20, obviously. Would you throw him another breaking ball? Sure. But … I’m going to attack with my best stuff no matter who it is. You still have [Bryce] Harper on deck, who can hurt you in any way.”

It was just the second time this season that Schwarber swung on a 3-0 pitch and the third time in his career that he's homered in that count.

"It was kind of a situation that called for it, you know?" Schwarber said. "I always got the thought in the back of my head, 'You have Bryce right behind you, you don't want to force anything.' But it was kind of a situation, you've got a guy in scoring position, two outs, base open, just be ready for one pitch and get it in a certain spot. He left the heater up and we got a good swing off on it."

Abbott wasn't surprised that Schwarber had the green light.

“We were trying to go away, we just left it middle," he said. "He’s a good hitter. He’s going to punish the mistakes and he’s done that his entire career and he’s going to continue to do that.”

Abbott still delivered a quality start of six innings while giving up three runs and five hits with no walks and eight strikeouts. It was the first time this season that the lefty didn't walk a batter, and the first time he completed six innings since June 8 after he worked a combined 20 1/3 innings over his previous four starts.

After Schwarber's homer, Abbott retired 10 of his final 12 batters and the final five in a row. Over his last 13 starts since April 30, he has a 2.86 ERA. Overall in 19 starts, he is 5-5 with a 3.92 ERA.

“Other than one mistake, I thought I threw the ball well," Abbott said. "I didn’t give them any chances, didn’t have any walks, so they definitely had to earn it and they earned it.”