The Cincinnati Reds (74-71) are 1.5 games back of Arizona (75-69) for the final Wild Card spot in the NL after losing two of
three to the St. Louis Cardinals (63-80) over the weekend.
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The Reds opened the series on Friday with a 9-4 loss. Andrew Abbott (8-5) struggled on the mound, allowing a 6 runs in 4 innings of work.
Cincinnati dug themselves in a 6-0 hole before scoring 3 runs in the bottom of the 3rd on a Hunter Renfroe 2-run home and a Nick Senzel solo home run. The Reds would make it a 2-run game in the bottom of the 4th when Noelvi Marte stole home.
However, St. Louis posted 3 unanswered runs over the course of the 7th and 8th innings to ultimately put the game away.
Renfroe finished the game 2-4 with the aforementioned home run and 2 RBI.
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On Saturday, the Reds dropped their 3rd straight game, falling to the Cardinals 4-3.
Cincinnati fell behind 1-0 in the 1st before scoring 3 in the bottom of the 2nd to take a 3-1 lead. Those runs scored on doubles by Tyler Stephenson and Alejo Lopez, followed by Harrison Bader single.
That lead would be short lived as St. Louis tied the game in the top of the 3rd on a 2-run home run by Willson Contreras. The Cardinals’ scoring did not stop there as they scored one more in the 4th to take a 4-3 lead that they held on to the rest of the game .
Rookie pitcher Carson Spiers (0-1) took the loss, allowing 4 runs on 5 hits in 3 innings on the mound.
Lopez went 1-2 at the plate with a double and an RBI.
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The Reds snapped their 3-game losing streak in the series finale Sunday afternoon, routing the Cardinals 7-1.
Hunter Greene (4-6) had a stellar 6 innings on the mound, allowing 0 runs on 1 hit while striking out 9 batters.
It was the first game back for Jonathan India and Joey Votto, as the two players were previously nursing injuries. India went 1-3 with a home run and an RBI. Votto knocked in 2 runs, batting 1-4 with a home run. Will Benson also had a great day at the plate, batting 3-4 with a home run, a double and an RBI.
The Reds are off today before kicking off a 3-game road series against the Detroit Tigers tomorrow evening. Coverage on 103.9 WRBI will begin at 6:10.