By MATT PIKE
The Cincinatti Reds have struggled against their own division this season, but powered their way against the St. Louis Cardinals bullpen to a 4-2 win at Busch Stadium.
The Reds are 7-22 against the rest of the National League Central. Going into the NL Central clash against the Cardinals, Cincinnati had a .214 win percentage against its own division which ranks as the worst in MLB. The Cardinals though have been sliding, with the loss now losing in 12 of their last 17 games.
The game though, behind a strong pitching performance from Cardinals starter Dustin May, looked like it was in hand for St. Louis at first. In the fourth inning, the Reds did take the lead on an RBI ground rule double by Tyler Stephenson that drove in JJ Bleday to give the Reds a 1-0 lead. In the fifth inning however, the Cardinals got May the lead after Iván Herrera was hit by a pitch to leadoff the inning, stole second and then moved to third on a flyout by Lars Nootbaar. With two outs, after a Masyn Winn groundout, Nathan Church walked and later scored, along with Herrera, on a two RBI go ahead double from Blaze Jordan to give the Cardinals a 2-1 lead.
May threw six innings giving up one run on seven hits, striking out eight and walking one, before being relieved in the seventh by George Soriano. In the inning, the Reds took the lead back after Sal Stewart singledm with one out, and Eugenio Suárez hit a two run home run off Soriano with two outs giving Cincinnati a 3-2 lead. Later, in the ninth inning, the Reds added the final run of insurance, after Elly De La Cruz walked to lead off the inning, stole second base, and scored on a single from Stewart.
Emilio Pagán had two strikeouts in a 1-2-3 ninth for his 10th save of the season for Cincinnati. At the plate for the Cardinals, Jordan was 1-for-3 with a double and two RBI's and Jimmy Crooks was also 1-for-3 with a double, as the only two hits for St. Louis.
St. Louis and Cincinnati continue their series tomorrow. Andre Pallante (10-6, 4.02 ERA, 75K's) starts for the Cardinals against Hunter Greene (2-1, 6.06 ERA, 26K's) for the Reds. First pitch is at 6:15pm, coverage will begin at 6:05 on KY 102 (102.5 FM).
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