Electric Cincinnati Reds arms complete sweep of Texas Rangers
Sunday’s 2-1 victory over Texas earned the Reds a three-game sweep!
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - APRIL 5: Chase Burns #26 of the Cincinnati Reds pitches against the Texas Rangers during the second inning at Globe Life Field on April 5, 2026 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images) | Getty Images 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.