Phillips was scheduled for six innings, but when he hit 95 pitches after his final walk in the fifth, he was finished.
“He knows he didn’t have his best stuff – I know he didn’t have his best stuff,” Garman said. “He wasn’t happy with himself. And, quite frankly, it’s more of just trying to pick him up and let him know that you’re going to get the ball again next week.”
Phillips (1-1) certainly will. MLB.com immediately ranked Phillips as the Reds’ No. 14 prospect after he was acquired near the end of spring training from Seattle as part of the Jesse Winker-Eugenio Suarez trade.
Garman said he knew early when some pitches were in the dirt and got to the backstop that Phillips didn’t have the stuff he had on opening night when he pitched five scoreless innings and allowed two hits. In his second start he allowed three runs and walked five in 4 1/3 innings.
“You just can’t be your best every time doing this, so just get back to work,” Garman said.
The same is true for the team as a whole. Everything clicked and happened at the right time during the winning streak that saw the Dragons (9-4) build a two-game lead on Fort Wayne (7-5) in the Midwest League East Division. The lead is 1 ½ games after the Tincaps were postponed Friday.
“We’ll come back tomorrow, and we’ll be right back at it,” Dragons manager Bryan LaHair said. “That’s baseball and you’re going to have losses in there somewhere.”
During the winning streak the most runs the Dragons allowed was three. Phillips (1-1) cruised through the first eight outs, then Trei Cruz homered with two out in the third to get the Whitecaps (7-6) started.
The game really changed in the fourth when two walks led to two Whitecaps runs. After getting two outs to start the fifth, Phillips gave up a single and a walk. He was replaced by Myles Gayman who allowed an RBI double to Jake Holton and a two-run single to Andrew Navigato for a 6-1 lead.
For the Dragons, Alex McGarry hit a two-run homer, his fourth of the season, and Allan Cerda hit a solo homer, his first.
The Dragons faced the Whitecaps’ No. 1 starter. Ty Madden is Detroit’s No. 6 prospect after being drafted in the first round last year out of Alabama. He allowed one run in five innings on two hits and no walks. He struck out five.
Roster move: The Reds promoted outfielder Quin Cotton to Double-A Chattanooga on Friday and replaced him with outfielder Justice Thompson from Low-A Daytona. Thompson started in left field and went 0-for-3. LaHair said Thompson can play all three outfield positions.
The Reds drafted Thompson in the sixth round in 2021 out of North Carolina where hit batted .304 with seven home runs in 54 games. Thompson, known for his speed and defense, batted .257 with three stolen bases at Daytona. Fangraphs rates Thompson the Reds’ No. 44 prospect.
Cotton led the Dragons with 10 homers last season, but he had a limited role this season and was hitless in 11 at-bats.
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