Phillies Drop First Series Under Don Mattingly Losing to Reds

The Philadelphia Phillies have suffered their first series loss under Don Mattingly, being defeated by the Cincinnati Reds.

Apr 29, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly before a game against the San Francisco Giants at Citizens Bank Park. | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

The Philadelphia Phillies entered their matinee with the Cincinnati Reds, the rubber match of a three-game series, with a major streak on the line.

They had yet to lose a series under Don Mattingly, who took over as interim manager from Rob Thomson when the team started the season 9-19. The Phillies have been on fire since, making history with how fast they climbed back over the .500 mark.

Alas, they are back to the .500 mark now after losing to the Reds 9-4, dropping their second consecutive game and losing a series for the first time since April 24-26 when they lost two of three games to the Atlanta Braves.

Philadelphia staked Aaron Nola to a 1-0 lead after the bottom of the first inning courtesy of a Bryce Harper sac fly. But that lead was short-lived because the Reds’ offense was able to get going against the veteran righty in the second.

Reds snap Phillies series winning streak at seven

May 20, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies infielder Bryce Harper (3) reacts after flying out against the Cincinnati Reds in the sixth inning at Citizens Bank Park. | Kyle Ross-Imagn Images

Sal Stewart started the inning with a double and moved to third when Spencer Steer hit a single after him. Nathaniel Lowe then hit a double of his own, knocking in Stewart and sending Steer to third base with no outs.

After Blake Dunn popped out to Bryson Stott, Will Benson grounded out to first baseman Alec Bohm. That scored Steer, with Lowe moving to third base. P.J. Higgins would knock him in with an RBI single ahead of Matt McLain striking out to end the inning.

The game would remain 3-1 until the fourth inning, when Higgins would get Nola again with an RBI single, this time scoring Dunn.

Nola would make it through the fifth inning unscathed to end his afternoon. He allowed four earned runs on eight hits and zero walks to go along with five strikeouts. His ERA rose to 6.04 on the season, as the Phillies have a real dilemma on their hands with his performance.

Here come the Fightins! pic.twitter.com/MY2To8hqvu

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) May 20, 2026

Philadelphia would claw its way back into the game in the bottom of the sixth. After Tim Mayza gave up a run in the top of the inning, Bohm hit a solo home run, his fifth of the season, to extend his hitting streak to 11 games.

Edmundo Sosa would hit his second home run of the year, this one of the two-run variety, to cut the lead to 5-4. That would be as close as the Phillies would get. 

Cincinnati tacked on two more runs at the top of the seventh with a two-run double from Lowe. In the top of the ninth, Stewart went deep for the 12th time this campaign, extending the lead to 9-4, which was the final score.

Philadelphia will have a day off on May 21 before hosting the Cleveland Guardians for a three-game set over the weekend.

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