The Cincinnati Reds have won their first series in St. Louis since June 3-6, 2021.
After dropping the first game in relatively uncompetitive fashion, it appeared the house of horrors that is Busch Stadium would continue to be just that for the Reds. Yet, strong starts from rookie Andrew Abbott and Hunter Greene allowed Cincinnati to scratch and claw for two straight wins against their division rivals.
The Reds now sit just four games back from the first-place Pittsburgh Pirates in the NL Central.
Game One
The Reds dropped game one of the series, 7-4. Starter Ben Lively gutted out 6 2/3 innings, but gave up all seven St. Louis runs. Joel Kuhnel came in to relieve Lively and got through the final 1 1/3 innings without giving up a run. Friday’s outing was Kuhnel’s first in the MLB since being optioned to AAA-Louisville on April 5. Kuhnel was promptly optioned back to Louisville the following day.
The Reds were able to handle Cardinals star Paul Goldschmidt, as he was hitless in five at-bats. However, Nolan Arenado and Nolan Gorman both had long home runs and accounted for four runs. MLB.com’s top prospect, Jordan Walker, had himself an outstanding day at the plate as well. Walker went 3-4 with a home run of his own and two more runs batted in.
St. Louis starter Jordan Montgomery blanked the Reds for six innings, surrendering just four baserunners. St. Louis relievers Jordan Hicks and Chris Stratton each gave up two runs in just one inning of work total.
Cincinnati’s player of the game on offense was outfielder Stuart Fairchild. Fairchild went 2-3 at the plate with a double, two runs batted in and a walk. Spencer Steer and Tyler Stephenson each added one hit and a walk as well. Other than that, the Reds were pretty quiet to begin the series at Busch Stadium.
Game Two
The Reds got their revenge in game two, defeating the Cardinals 8-4. Every Cincinnati starter recorded at least one hit in the game except for leadoff hitter TJ Friedl. Tyler Stephenson continued his offensive turnaround after a slow start to the season, going 2-4 with a walk and driving in a run.
Elly de la Cruz proved once again how electric he can be on the base paths. De la Cruz stole his second base of his career and delivered this highlight as well.
De la Cruz affects the game on so many levels and it is showing up in the most important area for the Reds: the win column. Since his promotion to Cincinnati, the Reds are 4-2 with series wins against the Dodgers and Cardinals.
The future is bright in Cincinnati with all of these young players contributing to wins already.
Game Three
Cincinnati took the series finale 4-3 in a vintage pitcher’s duel. Hunter Greene pitched well for the Reds and his counterpart, Adam Wainwright was solid as well, leading to a 3-3 tie game after six innings. Both pitchers went just over five innings and gave up three runs, doing so in very different ways. Wainwright, being the savvy veteran he is, only struck out two batters, but kept the Reds off balance all afternoon. Meanwhile, nine of the 16 outs Hunter Greene recorded were strikeouts.
Offensively, the Reds were led by Elly de la Cruz who reached base safely four times. De la Cruz’s leadoff walk in the eighth inning, and the speed on the bases after that, resulted in the game-winning run. After the walk, de la Cruz stole second base, advanced to third on a passed ball and then scored on a ground ball to the shortstop with the infield in. His speed is undeniable and was the difference on Sunday.
Perhaps the most important sequence of the game was in the sixth inning. Reds manager David Bell pulled Hunter Greene in favor of Ian Gibaut with one out and runners on first and second base. Gibaut got Paul Dejong and Tommy Edman to popout, stranding the two inherited runners. Gibaut was able to secure his team-leading sixth win of the season and lowered his season ERA to 3.09.
What’s next?
The Reds travel three hours west across the state of Missouri to take on the Kansas City Royals in a three-game set. The Royals (18-47) have been struggling all season, but have been horrid in the month of June, going just 1-7 so far.
Stay tuned for more breaking MLB content, including trade deadline information, power rankings and more news from every team.
Featured image courtesy of Reds.com
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