The St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds met for game 3 of their 3-game series on Sunday. Games 1 and 2 belonged to the Cardinals. The Reds would look to bounce back and take at least 1 game of the series and stop their 6-game losing streak. While the Cardinals looked to sweep their division rival.
The Cardinals had ace Jack Flaherty on the mound while the Reds went with Luis Castillo.
Hot Start for St. Louis
The Cardinals jumped all over the Reds early on in this one. Paul Goldsmidt opened the scoring in the 1st inning by grounding into a fielder’s choice that drove in Tommy Edman and gave the Cardinals a 1-0 lead. Then Tyler O’Neill hit a 413-foot home run to deep right field in the 2nd inning to make it 2-0 Cardinals.
O’Neill was not done though; he took Red’s pitcher Luis Castillo yard again in the 5th inning to extend the Cardinal lead to 3-0. Dylan Carlson then brought Andrew Knizner in with a single, and the lead stood at 4-0.
The Cardinals’ 5th and final run came in the 8th inning when Goldschmidt got his second RBI of the day. He hit a single to center that brought Dylan Carslon in and gave the Cardinals a 5-2 lead.
Cardinal pitcher Jack Flaherty was just as good as the Cardinal offense in this one. Flaherty pitched 6 shutout innings before allowing 1 run in the 7th inning. The 1 run Flaherty allowed came in the form of a Jesse Winker homerun. Flaherty struck out 6 batters and allowed just 3 hits in his 7 innings of work.
Cincinnati Struggles
The Reds have been ice cold of late as they have lost their last 6 games. They have an elite offense that ranks in the top 10 of most statistical categories in the entire MLB, even ranking 1st in home runs. The elite offense is not getting it done, though.
Flaherty blanked the reds for much of Sunday’s game. Winker’s homerun was 1 of 3 hits the team got off Flaherty. Jordan Hicks came in for Flaherty in the 8th, and the Reds were able to take advantage. Tyler Naquin singled to right and drove in Kyle Farmer.
The offense was not very good on Sunday and neither was the pitching for the Reds. Luis Castillo went 5 innings, giving up 6 hits and allowing 4 runs. Castillo was able to strike out 4 Cardinals, though.
What’s next?
The Reds losing streak now sits at 7 games. With the loss, they are now 9-12 on the season. They will open up a 3-game series with the Dodgers in Los Angeles on Monday.
With the win, the Cardinals are now 11-10 on the season. Coming off the sweep of their division rivals, they will start a 3-game series with the Phillies in St. Louis on Monday.
