After a 13-inning game on Wednesday night in which the Cardinals won 4-3 after a Randal Grichuk home run, the Cardinals and Reds were tied up in the series.
And on a wet, rainy day in Cincinnati, Ohio, the Cardinals and Reds faced off in the final game of the series. It took a while for the game to get started, due to an extensive weather delay, and conditions were still bad throughout the afternoon.
The starting pitchers for the afternoon’s game were Michael Wacha (12-4, 3.09 ERA) for St. Louis, and Michael Lorenzen (3-6, 4.80) for Cincinnati.
Eventually, the game did get started, and Wacha allowed only a double to Joey Votto in the bottom of the first, while earlier, Lorenzen threw a 1-2-3 top of the first inning. Both pitchers kept it a shutout game until the top of the fourth inning, when the Cardinals got on the board first.
It began with a lead-off single by Jason Heyward. Randal Grichuk then struck out, and Heyward stole second in the process. Kolten Wong was walked by Lorenzen, and Brandon Moss also struck out swinging. With two on and two outs, Tony Cruz hit an RBI single, scoring Heyward to make it 1-0 Cardinals.
Matt Carpenter led off the top of the fifth inning with a double. Stephen Piscotty stepped up to bat next, and got hit by a pitch from Lorenzen. Heyward grounded into a fielder’s choice, as Piscotty got thrown out at second. Grichuk once again struck out swinging, but Wong hit an RBI single, that scored both Carpenter and Heyward, as the Cardinals increased their lead to 3-0.
And that turned out to be all Wacha needed as far as run support was concerned. He kept the Reds in check all game, not allowing them to get any momentum going. His final line for the evening was: 7 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 Ks.
Jonathan Broxton, Randy Choate, and Trevor Rosenthal all entered the game in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings, respectively, as the Cardinals defeated the Reds 3-0 to win the divisional road series.
Wacha improves to 13-4 on the season, while Lorenzen drops to 3-7. Rosenthal meanwhile gets his 32nd save of the season, continuing his All-Star season.
With the win, the Cardinals reached the mark of being 30 games over .500 for the first time this season. The Reds, meanwhile, drop to 48-58. Another interesting fact to note is that the Cardinals are 33-8 in games started by Wacha and Carlos Martinez.
St. Louis heads to Milwaukee next, to begin a three game series against the last-place Brewers.
(Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
