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Adam Duvall, Patrick Kivlehan hit 2 solo HRs, power Cincinnati Reds over Philadelphia Phillies

By Stephen Pianovich, The Sports Xchange
Two solo shots a piece by Adam Duvall and Patrick Kivlehan led the Reds past the Phillies. Photo courtesy Cincinnati Reds/Twitter
Two solo shots a piece by Adam Duvall and Patrick Kivlehan led the Reds past the Phillies. Photo courtesy Cincinnati Reds/Twitter

PHILADELPHIA -- With dozens of friends and family members in the seats, Patrick Kivlehan was given an opportunity Sunday. Like the Cincinnati Reds' everyday corner outfielders, he had no trouble finding his power stroke.

Kivelhan hit two solo homers, as did fellow outfielder Adam Duvall, who drove in five runs in the Reds' 8-4 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park.

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It was just the seventh start of the season for Kivlehan, who went deep in the fourth and ninth innings. A Rutgers graduate from Nyack, N.Y., Kivlehan said he had about 25 people make the trip to Philadelphia to form his personal cheering section during one of the best games of his young major league career.

"It was definitely one of those days I'll remember forever, but it was more special for my family and my friends," said the 27-year-old who started in right field. "I think they'll cherish it longer than I will."

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Kivlehan played in just 40 major league games before Sunday, and he doubled his home run total in four at-bats.

"He really needed to start here in Philadelphia," Reds manager Bryan Price said. "He had a couple of pinch-hit at-bats (Friday and Saturday) and he took advantage of it. He hit the ball right on the screws four times today, and two of them went out of the ballpark. I couldn't have been any happier for him."

The Reds' starting outfield accounted for all five of the team's home runs and eight RBIs as Duvall and Scott Schebler continued their production-filled seasons at the plate. Schebler hit a solo homer in the second inning. It was his 15th of the season, which moved him into a tie for the National League lead with Washington's Bryce Harper.

Duvall's homers were both two-run shots, and he also had a run-scoring single in the first inning for a five-RBI game. The homers -- both to left field -- were the 12th and 13th of Duvall's season, and his 2017 RBI total grew to 43. It was the fourth multi-homer game of Duvall's career and first since Sept. 26, 2016.

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"This game has a lot of cycles to it, and he's in a really good cycle," Price said of Duvall, who has three homers in four games after a 15-game stretch without a long ball. "I think the way he goes about his business; his really good cycles are going to be longer in duration and the struggles are going to be shorter."

The eight-run outburst for Cincinnati gave the team the series victory and moved the Reds within one game of .500 at 24-25. Meanwhile, it was the ninth consecutive series loss for the Phillies (17-31), who are 6-22 in their last 28 games.

Philadelphia took an early lead with a four-run second inning. Catcher Andrew Knapp crushed a three-run, 434-foot homer into the Phillies' bullpen, his third home run of the season. Starting pitcher Zach Eflin helped his own cause with an RBI single with one out, but the Phillies would not score again despite plenty of chances.

The Phillies, who notched 10 hits, had their leadoff man reach base in the third, fourth, fifth and sixth innings and left him stranded each time.

"Good to see Knapp get that home run, crushed it to right field," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "Other than that, we had a few opportunities to score, we just couldn't capitalize."

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Cincinnati's Scott Feldman (4-4) surrendered eight hits in five innings but got enough run support to pick up the win.

Eflin (0-3), meanwhile, was hit hard for his start in a row. The right-hander surrendered seven runs in five innings on nine hits -- four of which were homers. Eflin has allowed 22 earned runs and 30 hits in his last three starts (15 innings) and has a 13.20 ERA in that span. The second-year major leaguer has also given up seven home runs in his last two outings after allowing only four in his first six starts.

He was optioned back to Triple-A Lehigh Valley after the game.

"There are some things that I need to work on," Eflin said. "I need to do a better job of pitching backwards, especially in fastball counts. So there's a lot of things I can work on. But at the end of the day, I'm not worried about it. I'm going to go down there, work on everything I need to work on and get back here as quick as possible."

NOTES: Reds OF Adam Duvall hit two home runs on three occasions in 2016, most recently on Sept. 26 against St. Louis. ... The last time the Phillies won a series was against Miami on April 26-27. The Phillies face the Marlins for a three-game set in Miami starting Monday. ... For the Reds, the series victory was their first at Citizens Bank Park since August 2006. Cincinnati was 0-9-1 in its last 10 series in Philadelphia coming into the weekend. ...The Phillies plan to activate OF Howie Kendrick from the disabled list on Monday. Kendrick, who is hitting .333 with an .883 OPS in 10 games this season, has not played since April 15 because of an oblique injury.

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