The St. Louis Cardinals looked to bounce back on Wednesday night, when they faced off against the Cincinnati Reds in game two of a three game series. Cincinnati scored three runs in the bottom of the first on Tuesday night, and Anthony DeSclafani kept St. Louis in check, as the Reds won 3-2.
And on Wednesday night, the Cardinals, after a long, intense game, were able to end their losing streak against the Reds, winning 4-3 in 13 innings.
For the game, the starting pitchers were Carlos Martinez (11-4, 2.61 ERA) for St. Louis, and David Holmberg (1-0, 3.00) for Cincinnati.
In the bottom of the third inning, the Reds, much like they did the night before, scored first in the game. The inning started with a foul out by Brandon Phillips. Martinez issued a walk to Joey Votto next. Todd Frazier reached on an infield single, and Jay Bruce popped out. Marlon Byrd loaded the bases by reaching on an infield single as well.
Brayan Pena followed that with a double, scoring Votto and Frazier to make it 2-0 Reds.
They added to that lead in the fourth inning. Holmberg led off with a walk issued by Martinez, who was struggling to have consistent command with his pitches. Martinez did get Billy Hamilton to strike out during the next at-bat. Phillips singled, and Votto followed that with a walk, bringing up Todd Frazier. Frazier grounded out, but Holmberg scored to make it 3-0 Reds.
On the mound, Holmberg, making only his eighth career Major League start, had himself a strong outing for Cincinnati, only allowing one hit through the first four innings of the game. The Cardinals, however, finally were able to get on the board in the top of the sixth inning.
Peter Bourjos led off, pinch-hitting for Martinez, and got hit by a pitch. Matt Carpenter, who has been one of the brightest spots in regards to the Cardinals’ offense lately, walked to bring up Randal Grichuk. And Grichuk hit a double, scoring Bourjos to make it 3-1. Manny Parra came into the game in relief of Holmberg. He first faced Jason Heyward, and got Heyward to strike out. Jhonny Peralta followed with a one-out single, scoring Carpenter, cutting the Reds’ lead to 3-2.
To start the bottom of the sixth inning, Carlos Villanueva entered to pitch for Martinez. Jonathan Broxton relieved Villanueva in the seventh, and both pitchers did not allow a single run. Neither did Kevin Siegrist, who pitched the bottom of the eighth.
Before that, however, in the top of the eighth, Carpenter launched a solo home run, tying the game up at 3-3.
Cardinals closer Trevor Rosenthal pitched both a scoreless ninth and 10th, as the game headed to the 11th inning. With one on and two outs in the top of the 11th inning, Reds pitcher Jumbo Diaz got Yadier Molina to strikeout, as the game headed to the bottom of the inning. Steve Cishek pitched the bottom of the 11th, and kept the Reds in check.
One of the few remaining bench players, Pete Kozma, came to bat for the Cardinals in the 12th inning, and hit a one-out single, and after a Kolten Wong pop out, Mark Reynolds stepped up to the plate. During the at-bat, Kozma stole second. But Reynolds struck out (the Cardinals’ 14th strikeout of the night), and the game headed to the bottom half of the 12th. Seth Maness then came into the game, and threw a scoreless inning.
In the top of the 13th inning, Grichuk, who was 1-5 prior to the at-bat, stepped up to bat and hit a solo home run to left field, in what turned out to be the winning run. It was his 13th home run of the season.
The Cardinals ended the three game losing skid against the Reds, by winning 4-3, and in the process, improve to 68-39. Cincinnati dropped to 48-57 with the loss. Maness got the win, as his record improves to 4-1.
For Grichuk, not only did he hit his first career extra-innings home run, but he also continues to make noise in the case for him being NL Rookie of the Year.
(AP Photo/John Minchillo)
