Chase Burns got the start for the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday in Arlington as the good guys looked to complete the three-game sweep of the Texas Rangers.
Brock Burke got the save for the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday in Arlington as the good guys did, in fact, complete the three-game sweep of the Texas Rangers.
Burns completed 6.0 IP of scoreless ball before finally yielding a run in the Top of the 7th, but Cincinnati’s offense managed to small-ball their way to runs on two separate occasions to make it
a nervy, yet brilliant 2-1 win. The brilliance – timely singles by the middle of Cincinnati’s lineup aside – was in the deliveries of some of their electric young arms, who backed Burns on a day when some of their most proven relievers were unavailable.
Pierce Johnson and Sam Moll managed to get around an inherited runner left by Burns in the 7th, at which point things were turned over to Connor Phillips for the Bottom of the 8th inning with the heart of the Rangers lineup coming to the plate. Given that Graham Ashcraft, Tony Santillan, and Emilio Pagan were gassed from holding things together in the previous two wins of the series, it was going to be up to Phillips – and eventually Burke – to get to the finish line in this nailbiter of a game.
Those two did so with aplomb, even though Phillips struggled a bit to get his third out after looking completely filthy getting the first two.
Both Phillips and Burke flirted with 100 mph on their heaters, and Phillips’ slider in particular looked to be moving as well as it ever has. And if you polled the poor Rangers hitters who were tasked with facing those two after 6 dominant innings from Burns, well, I’m not sure exactly who they’d say was the toughest to pinpoint as all three looked simply absurd.
Burns, who finished with an ER, 5 H, BB, and 9 K on 87 pitches, continued his ascent to the top of Cincinnati’s rotation with his second gem of the early going. He’s today’s Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game, and it won’t be the last of those honors he takes home this season.
Other Notes
- Elly De La Cruz went 2 for 5 with a run scored, a ribbie, and his first stolen base of the season.
- The Reds, who entered play today with just a lone steal on the season as a team, actually swiped four bags on the day as each of TJ Friedl, Elly, Sal Stewart, and Matt McLain got in on the action.
- The Reds actually struck out 15 Rangers on the day. That’ll do!
- Will Benson did not start today, and instead came on mid-game for Noelvi Marte when a right-handed reliever was on the bump. Benson doubled and singled in his pair of plate appearances.
- The 2026 Reds are now 6-3 despite having scored the second fewest runs of any National League team, to date.
- The Cincinnati Reds will head to Miami later this evening and on Monday they’ll begin a series against the Marlins. Brandon Williamson will get the start looking to improve significantly on his pretty dismal first outing since the 2024 season, and first pitch is set for 6:40 PM ET.
