The Glendale Desert Dogs took the field on Thursday afternoon and had three Cincinnati Reds position players in the lineup. But they would eventually get two of their pitchers into the game, too, and both Connor Phillips and Luis Mey looked good on the mound.
Connor Phillips came out of the bullpen for Glendale. Andrew Painter of the Philadelphia Phillies start the game and threw 3.0 shutout innings for the Desert Dogs. Phillips picked up right where he left off. And he covered even more innings than Painter did. The Reds prospect kept Salt River off of the scoreboard for innings four through seven, as he allowed four hits, one walk, and had five strikeouts.
For Phillips, it was a nice rebound after his last outing that came eight days ago. The right-hander struggled on that day as he allowed seven earned runs on six hits – including two home runs – and two walks in just 2.1 innings. Overall, through his three outings, Phillips has a 6.10 ERA with all of his earned runs coming in the middle game. He’s thrown 10.1 innings, allowed 12 hits, walked just three batters, and he’s struck out 15 of the 45 hitters that he’s faced.
The other pitcher for the Reds to get in the game was Luis Mey. He picked up his 4th save in his 4th appearance for Glendale by tossing a perfect inning with a strikeout. Mey has yet to give up a hit in his 4.2 innings, has walked just one batter, and he’s struck out five of the 16 hitters that he’s faced.
Cincinnati hitters were 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in the lineup for the Desert Dogs. Both Tyler Callihan and Edwin Arroyo went 0-4 with a walk, run, and a strikeout. Matt McLain, though went 1-2 with three walks and two runs scored.
Christian Encarnacion-Strand did not play in the game. He hasn’t played in a game in eight days and in that game he exited the game late. There’s been no word for why he’s been absent from the lineup.