PHILADELPHIA -- The Reds are leaving town feeling a lot better about themselves than when they got here.
Cincinnati earned its first road series win in a month on Wednesday afternoon, taking a 9-4 decision in the rubber match against the Phillies, a team that had been sizzling hot when the Reds arrived at Citizens Bank Park on Monday.
The Reds had won only one series in May, their last road series win coming back on April 20-22 against the Rays. Prior to the two wins against the Phillies, Cincinnati was 1-10 in its first 11 road games this month.
Andrew Abbott delivered his fifth straight solid outing, holding the Phillies to two runs (one of which was unearned) on three hits in 5 1/3 innings to win his fourth consecutive decision. The left-hander -- a first-time All-Star last July -- is 4-0 with a 1.28 ERA in those five starts.
The top three hitters in the Reds’ lineup combined to go 2-for-15 with five strikeouts, but the rest of the offense made up for it. Nathaniel Lowe drove in three runs with a pair of timely doubles, while the Nos. 8 and 9 hitters picked up their teammates atop the batting order.
The Reds had gotten only 24 RBIs from the bottom two spots in the lineup this season, the second-fewest of any club in the Majors ahead of only the Cardinals’ 21.
Cincinnati soared up that list Wednesday, as the Nos. 8 and 9 spots accounted for four RBIs. Those three spots, which consisted of Blake Dunn, Will Benson, P.J. Higgins and Dane Myers (who pinch-hit for Benson in the sixth), combined to go 5-for-13 with two runs scored and four RBIs.
Sal Stewart capped the win with a two-run homer off Jose Alvarado in the ninth, his second of the series and No. 12 on the season, finishing the first four-hit game of his young career.