The Cardinals won perhaps the most critical series thus far this season.
They won two games out of three against the Giants.
On Sunday, with the series tied 1-1 against the National League West-leading San Francisco Giants, Jake Peavy and Carlos Martinez got the starts for the Giants and Cardinals respectively, as St. Louis entered the game 7-17 against the Cubs, Pirates, Nationals, and Giants combined in the 2016 season.
For the second straight game, the St. Louis Cardinals had to come from behind (after a two-run home run by Jarrett Parker made it 2-1 Giants) in order to be victorious. They eventually were able to tie the game up, but the tie-breaking run came off of the bat of Yadier Molina, who notched an RBI as Brandon Crawford was charged with an error while trying to set up a double play. Later in the game, Molina would end his 0-20 skid at the plate, with a single.
Martinez (6-5) had a bounce-back outing, after dealing with a recent slump on the mound, and the outstanding season for Matt Carpenter continued, as he notched three hits and an RBI.
On Saturday, the Cardinals were down 4-0 against the Giants and at risk for dropping down to the .500 mark. Thanks to a late-game power surge, the Cardinals wound up winning 7-4 and bailing out struggling starter Michael Wacha.
With the Cubs and Pirates losing on Sunday, they saw the prime opportunity to close in at least a little bit towards the top of the division and looked to capitalize on it.
They did just that, winning their 30th game of the season in the process.
Tuesday night’s game will feature Mike Leake (4-4, 3.82) on the mound for the Cardinals, as the 28-year ld makes his first career appearance against the Reds to start a six-game road trip. He’s 4-1 with a 1.59 ERA his last five outings, as he has begun to receive more run support over the past few starts.
