KSReds: Cincinnati Reds Win Series in St. Louis

It is always fun to beat the St. Louis Cardinals. However, it is even more fun to go into their ball park and win a series. That is what the Cincinnati Reds accomplished over the weekend. After a tough night on Friday, the Reds bounced back to win on Saturday and Sunday and take the series in St. Louis.

Once again, Elly De La Cruz wowed Reds fans as his Major League career gets off to a dazzling start. The rookie sensation was 2-3 with a RBI and two runs scored on Sunday to help win the rubber match. He is now slashing an incredible .364/.481/.636 and has quickly cemented himself as one of the most exciting players in all of baseball.

Now 31-35 on the season, Cincinnati will remain on the road for three games against the Kansas City Royals. It could be a good chance to continue climbing the National League Central standings as the Royals are just 18-47. The Reds currently sit four games behind the first place Pittsburgh Pirates in the division. Luke Weaver will be the starter on Monday night at 8:10 p.m. Eastern Time in Kansas City. Brandon Williamson and Ben Lively are also scheduled to start on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively.

Too Little, Too Late in Series Opener

Jordan Montgomery completely dominated the Cincinnati Reds bats on Friday night. The St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher threw six shutout innings while allowing just three hits and striking out six. At the plate, a couple of early home runs supplied enough offense to take the series opening win. Nolan Arenado went deep for a two-run home run in the first tinning. Then, Jordan Walker came through with a two-run shot of his own in the second inning to build a 4-0 advantage. Brendan Donovan added another run with a single to left field increasing the lead to 5-0.

The Reds offense finally got going in the seventh inning but they wouldn’t be able to overcome their early deficit. Stuart Fairchild got it started with a RBI single in the seventh. Kevin Newman added a sacrifice fly in the seventh inning as well. However, Nolan Gorman quickly erased the Reds scoring with a two-run home run in the bottom half of the inning to make it 8-2. Tyler Stephenson and Fairchild set the final score of 7-4 with a pair of runs in the eighth. It was too little, too late for Cincinnati against their National League Central rival.

Reds Rookies Lead to Saturday Afternoon Victory

As the Cincinnati Reds continue to get younger they also continue to get better. 24-year old left-hander Andrew Abbott was excellent once again in his second career start. Abbott moved to 2-0 after going five and two-thirds shutout innings and maintained his 0.00 earned run average. The bullpen was far from perfect as the Cardinals tried to mount a comeback. Paul Goldschmidt and Dylan Carlson got things going in the seventh and eighth innings. Then, Nolan Arenado went deep once again in the ninth. However, the Reds early 7-0 advantage was enough to hold on to the lead.

Luke Maile got the party started with a bases cleaning double to make it 3-0 in the second inning. Rookie sensation Elly De La Cruz continued his strong start to his big league career with a RBI single in the fourth. Spencer Steer was responsible for the rest of the 7-0 lead with a sacrifice fly followed by a two-run double in the seventh inning. Tyler Stephenson then came through with a run-scoring single in the top of the ninth as the Reds would cruise to a 8-4 victory. Saturday’s win would set up a rubber match for the series in St. Louis on Sunday afternoon.

Rubber Match Goes to the Reds

Hunter Greene continues to find his groove on the mound for the Cincinnati Reds. The flame-throwing right-hander was solid once again on Sunday pitching five and one-third innings allowing three runs on six hits while striking out nine batters. However, as good as Greene was, the Reds bullpen was even better. Ian Gibaut earned the win with one and two-third innings bridging the gap to the eighth. Then, Lucas Sims and Alexis Diaz recorded the final six outs to maintain the one run advantage. Cincinnati escaped St. Louis with a 4-3 victory to secure the series win.

At the plate, Jonathan India wasted no time getting Cincinnati on the scoreboard. He blasted his seventh home run of the season to centerfield to give the Reds an early 1-0 lead. The game would then change hands a couple of times in the coming innings. St. Louis got on top in the second inning with a RBI single and RBI groundout. However, Elly De La Cruz would respond with a run scoring opposite field single that knotted the game back up at the 2-2. The Cardinals answered immediately though with a RBI triple from Nolan Arenado that retook the lead at 3-2. That score would hold into the sixth inning.

The speed of Elly De La Cruz came in very handy to help win this game on Sunday afternoon. He drew a walk in top of the sixth, stole second base, advanced to third on a fly out to center field, and finally came around to score on a Tyler Stephenson single. Then, in the eighth, his speed impacted the game once again. After drawing another walk, De La Cruz advanced to second on a groundout, got to third on a passed ball, and then scored on a ground ball to second base despite the infield being drawn in. That final run set the eventual final score of 4-3 to win the series for Cincinnati.