The St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds opened up a 3 game weekend series on Friday night at St. Louis’ Busch Stadium.
The Cardinals came into Friday’s contest with an 8-10 record. They have lost 8 of their last 11 games. They would look to bounce back on their home field against division rivals the Reds. The Cardinals would look to Kwang Hyun Kim on the mound.
The Reds on the other hand came into the game at .500, 9-9, on the year. They have also been a bit cold of late losing 4 straight coming into Friday night’s game. The Reds went with Sonny Gray on the mound in game 1 of the series.
Early Dominance From St. Louis
The Cardinals did everything right early in this game. Kim was dealing on the mound, and the offense got an early spark. That early spark came in the form of a 2nd inning home run from Yadier Molina to put the Cardinals up 1-0. It was Molina’s 5th homerun of the early season.
The Cardinals would extend their lead in the 3rd inning. First basemen Paul Goldschmidt’s double to left field would drive in youngsters Tommy Edman and Dylan Carlson, making the lead 3-0. Goldschmidt was driven in by a Nolan Arenado single to right. Molina continued his hot start by hitting a double in the 3rd and driving in Arenado to swell the Cardinals early lead to 5-0.
The Cardinals torched Reds starting pitcher Sonny Gray. Gray went just three and two-thirds innings. He allowed 6 hits, walked 3, and allowed all 5 of the Cardinals runs. Gray was able to strike out 6 Cardinal batters.
Kim on the other hand was dealing on the mound on Friday night. Kim lasted five and two-thirds innings. The Cardinal pitcher allowed just 5 hits and 1 run while striking out 8 Reds’ batters. The 1 run Kim allowed occurred in the 6th inning when Nick Castellanos hit a home run to deep left field.
Late Game Dramatics
The game stayed locked at 5-1 from the 6th inning all the way to the final frame. Both team’s bullpens did a good job of not allowing either team to create offense. Until the 9th inning.
Coming into the 9th inning it looked as if the Cardinals were going to get their bounce back win in pretty dominant fashion. The Reds decided to make the Cardinals sweat a little bit.
Jordan Hicks took the mound for the Cardinals in the 9th inning. Hicks walked Alex Bandino, who advanced to second after Nick Senzel hit into a fielder’s choice. Then the fun started. Red’s youngster Jonathan India hit a triple to drive in Senzel and cut the lead to 5-2. Hicks then walked Tucker Barnhartt to put runners at the corners with only one out. The Cardinals decided to pull Hicks and put Alex Reyes in to try to save the game.
Reyes started off by walking Tyler Naquin to load the bases. He followed that walk by walking Jesse Winker to bring in India and cut the lead to 5-3. Reyes was able to stop some bleeding by striking out Castellanos. Then Barnhartt scored after a Reyes’ wild pitch and the Reds were suddenly down just 1 run after starting the inning down 4. Reyes closed the door and earned the save by striking out Eugenio Suarez for the 3rd and final out of a crazy final inning.
What’s Next?
Following Friday’s fun game at Busch Stadium both of these NL Central teams sit at 9-10 and tied for 3rd place in their division.
The teams will meet again on Saturday afternoon for game 2 of their 3-game series. The Reds will look to bounce back with Wade Miley on the mound. The Cardinals will start John Gant who is looking for his first victory in the young season.
