Jonathan India homered and Elly De La Cruz made magic happen on the bases while Hunter Greene and the bullpen took care of the rest on Sunday for the Cincinnati Reds in a 4-3 victory. The win gave the Reds a series win over the St. Louis Cardinals, who are now 12 games under .500.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Reds (31-35) |
4 | 10 | 0 |
| St. Louis Cardinals (27-39) |
3 | 7 | 0 |
| W: Gibaut (6-1) L: Hicks (1-4) SV: Diaz (15) | |||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
Cincinnati didn’t waste much time getting on the board. Jonathan India hit a solo home run in the 1st inning to dead center to put the Reds in front 1-0. The lead didn’t last that long as the Cardinals put in some work in the bottom of the 2nd. Willson Contreras led off with a walk and moved to third on a Dylan Carlson double. Contreras would score on a single by Jordan Walker and then Carlson came in on a ground out that gave St. Louis a 2-1 lead.
In the top of the 3rd inning the Cincinnati offense tried to put something together with a little rally of their own. Curt Casali led off with a single and then moved up to second on a 1-out single by Matt McLain. After a fly out it came down to Elly De La Cruz. He battled with Adam Wainwright, but came out on top with an RBI single into center on the 6th pitch of the at-bat that tied the game up.
St. Louis went right back to work in the bottom of the inning when Paul Goldschmidt led off the inning with a single. He came around to score the go-ahead run when Nolan Arendado hit a ball into the right field corner that got by a sliding Will Benson and turned into a triple.
The Reds would get that run back in the 6th inning after Elly De La Cruz walked, stole second base, and then scored on a Tyler Stephenson single. Will Benson followed up with a single of his own to put the go-ahead run at second base, but after a pitching change by St. Louis Stuart Fairchild flew out to end the inning.
In the bottom of the inning Hunter Greene got himself into trouble when he hit Dylan Carlson with one out and then walked Jordan Walker. That was the last pitch he threw as the Reds called on Ian Gibaut to enter the game and try to keep the game tied up and he did just that by getting back-to-back infield pop ups.
TJ Friedl tried to get a rally going in the top of the 7th with a 1-out double. He took third base on a wild pitch. After a strikeout, things were up to Jonathan India and he crushed the ball. Unfortunately it was to dead center field and the ball was caught by Tommy Edman with his hand against the wall to end the inning.
The 8th inning began with a walk from Elly De La Cruz. He took off for second base on a hit-and-run by Spencer Steer and the move worked out as the ball was grounded to shortstop and the Cardinals could only record an out at first on Steer with De La Cruz on the move. A passed ball followed to move him up to third base. With the infield in Tyler Stephenson grounded one right to shortstop, but De La Cruz broke for the plate anyways and he slid in headfirst safely ahead of a swipe tag attempt to put the Reds on top 4-3.
Lucas Sims took over for Ian Gibaut to begin the bottom of the 8th inning and immediately got himself into trouble with a walk of Nolan Arrenado. Sims got things going in the right direction by getting back-to-back pop ups before striking out Jordan Walker to strand the runner and send the game to the 9th inning with Cincinnati still up by a run.
Alexis Diaz came out to pitch the 9th inning for the Reds, looking to close out the second Cincinnati win in as many days. After two easy outs, the final one wasn’t quite the same. Will Benson made a nice running catch on a ball to the warning track in right center to end the game, giving the Reds a series win over the Cardinals.
Key Moment of the Game
Elly De La Cruz scoring on a fielders choice on a contact play in the top of the 8th inning that put Cincinnati up 4-3.
Notes Worth Noting
Elly De La Cruz now has a hit in all six of his big league games. He is hitting .364/.481/.636 with three stolen bases in those six games.
Matt McLain also has hits in his last six games, and hits in 18 of his last 20 games. He is now hitting .336/.387/.518 on the year with the Reds.
Alexis Diaz is now 15-for-15 in save opportunities. He lowered his ERA to 1.71 with a perfect 9th inning.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds vs Kansas City Royals
Monday June 12th, 8:10pm ET
Luke Weaver (1-2, 6.27 ERA) vs Zack Greinke (1-6, 4.59 ERA)
