Bryce Harper homers in return from daughter's birth as Phillies beat Reds 5
CINCINNATI (AP) — Bryce Harper homered in his return to the lineup following the birth of his third child, and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Cincinnati Reds 5-0 Thursday for their second shutout win in splitting a four-game series.
Zack Wheeler (2-3) allowed one hit in six innings, a third-inning single by Santiago Espinal. He struck out eight and walked four, extending his scoreless steak to 13 1/3 innings.
“I was throwing a lot of balls and got deep in the counts,” Wheeler said. I’ve given up two hits my last two outings but a bunch of walks. The results are good. I just got to get that cleaned up.”
Philadelphia has won eight of 10 and leads the major leagues with five shutouts, one more than the Phillies total in all of last season.
Harper returned from paternity leave for the birth of a daughter and hit a two-run homer that capped a four-run third inning against Nick Martinez (0-1). Harper has four home runs in four games against the Reds this season, hitting three on April 2.