KSReds: Cincinnati Reds Split Series With Rival Cardinals

Typically, playing the St. Louis Cardinals is a chance to knock off a team at the top of the National League Central. However, this season the Cincinnati Reds are battling their divisional rival to get out of the cellar.

Splitting the four-game series at two a piece wasn’t enough to do that though. Thursday afternoon’s pitching duel went to the Cardinals by the score of 2-1 to even up the series. St. Louis is now 23-29 on the season while Cincinnati fell to 21-29.

After getting swept by the Yankees over the weekend, the Reds finished their home stand with just a 2-5 record. Also, you’d have to go back to the Marlins series from May 9-11 to find their last series win. Some of the early season optimism is starting to leave Great American Ball Park.

The Reds will spend the rest of May on the road, which begins at Wrigley Field with a three-game weekend series against the Chicago Cubs. Then, they will head to another historic site in Fenway Park for a three-game set against the Boston Red Sox. Hunter Greene is scheduled to pitch on Friday with a 2:20 p.m. EST start. Brandon Williamson and Graham Ashcraft will also take the ball in Chicago.

Reds Begin Series With Walk-Off Win

You can pretty much pencil in Jonathan India getting on base in his first at-bat. He led Monday night’s game off with a double and then was brought in to score by Matt McLain who gave the Cincinnati Reds a 1-0 lead with a double of his own. Tyler Stephenson then made it 2-0 with a RBI single. However, it would turn into a back-and-forth affair the rest of the way into extra innings.

Paul DeJong quickly put the St. Louis Cardinals on top in the second inning with a three-run home run to left center field. DeJong’s eighth home run of the season came after a Juan Yepez single and Nolan Gorman walked. Then, Spencer Steer hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the third to regain the lead for the Reds. The Cardinals simply would not go away though.

Lars Nootbaar knotted it up at 4-4 with a double in the fifth, but Wil Myers answered with a RBI groundout in the bottom half of the inning. Once again, the Cardinals came back to tie it up with another RBI from DeJohn. This time he doubled to right field to make it 5-5 and cap off his four-RBI day.

In the top of the 10th inning, Ian Gibaut shut down the Cardinals to leave the runner stuck at second base. Then, in the bottom half of the frame, Tyler Stephenson walked and Spencer Steer advanced to third base on a wild pitch. Nick Senzel then came through with a walk-off sacrifice fly to give Cincinnati a 6-5 victory.

Paul Goldschmidt Powers Cardinals to Even Series

Tuesday night’s game at Great American Ball Park felt like it could have been played in the mid-2000s. 35-year-old Paul Goldschmidt wasted no time hitting a solo home run in the top of the first to put the Cardinals on the board. Also, 41-year-old Adam Wainwright was on the mound for St. Louis in his 18th season with the ball club. Both veterans contributed in a major way to the series-tying victory for the Cincinnati Reds’ National League Central rival.

After the early home run by Goldschmidt, Jake Fraley tied it up for the Reds in the bottom of the first with a run-scoring double. It was mostly all Cardinals the rest of the way though. Tommy Edman hit a sacrifice fly in the second followed by an Alec Burleson RBI single that made it 3-1 St. Louis. Then, Goldschmidt solidified himself as a Reds killer in the third inning with his second home run of the game.

Cincinnati rookie Matt McLain hit his first career home run in the third to make it 4-3, but the Cardinals pulled away in the fourth and never looked back. Edman drove in two more runs with a triple and Lars Nootbaar came behind him with a single to make it 7-3. After McLain and Nick Senzel drove in runs in the fifth and sixth innings, respectively, Nootbaar set the eventual final score of 8-5 with a RBI single in the ninth.

The Reds did threaten in the bottom half of the ninth, loading the bases with Jonathan India at the plate. However, he grounded into a fielder’s choice to end the game and strand the three potentially game-tying base-runners.

10 Runs on 18 Hits Lead to Easy Reds Win

The Cincinnati Reds offense really broke out on Wednesday night and collected a pretty stress-free 10-3 win.

Naturally, the game started with Jonathan India reaching base via a walk. He would eventually come around to score on a two-RBI single by Spencer Steer. Then, Kevin Newman drove in two more runs with a double to center field to spot the Reds an early 4-0 advantage in the bottom of the first inning.

For the second straight night, Matt McLain homered. His opposite-field home run in the fourth made it 6-1 Cincinnati. However, it was a unique long ball as it bounced out of the St. Louis right fielder’s glove and over the fence. It still looks like a home run in the scorebook though.

Nick Senzel, Stuart Fairchild, and Spencer Steer all added some extra cushion in the later innings. In total, the Reds smacked the Cardinals for 10 runs on 18 hits. The 18 hits were the most of the season as well as the most in nearly an entire calendar year. It also allowed Ben Lively to earn his first win as a starter since 2017. Lively’s second straight excellent start saw him go six innings allowing two runs on five hits while striking out eight.

Thursday Afternoon Pitcher’s Duel Goes to the Cardinals

After spending most of the first six weeks or so of the season in the National League Central cellar, the St. Louis Cardinals are getting hot. Thursday’s 2-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds was their 13th win in 18 games. But it didn’t come easily though in this afternoon’s matchup at Great American Ball Park.

There was no score through seven innings as Miles Mikolas and Luke Weaver were locked into a pitcher’s duel. The Cardinals veteran pitched seven shutout innings allowing just five hits. Meanwhile, Weaver was arguably even better for the Reds going six and one-third innings of shutout baseball while allowing just three hits and striking out six. However, Lucas Sims struggled with command in the eighth and it led to the two runs that St. Louis needed.

Sims recorded the first two outs of the inning. Then, Lars Nootbaar singled to right field followed by advancing to second base on a wild pitch. Nolan Gorman brought him around to score with a double down the right-field line to break the scoreless tie. After two straight walks — the first being intentional — Gorman scored on another wild pitch from Sims that made it 2-0 Cardinals.

Spencer Steer doubled and Stuart Fairchild drove him in in the bottom of the ninth, but it wasn’t enough as the Cincinnati Reds fell 2-1.