St. Louis Cardinals Swept By Cincinnati Reds Into Second Place

The St. Louis Cardinals lost their third consecutive game to the Cincinnati Reds Sunday night, falling 1.5 games out of first place in the National League Central behind a struggling Chris Carpenter. Lance Berkman and Yadier Molina homered in the loss, and Tyler Greene, Ryan Theriot, and Nick Punto all doubled as the Cardinals' late rally couldn't avert a final score of 9-7. Errors by Albert Pujols and Jon Jay were difficult to overcome, but Carpenter managed to struggle without them despite striking out five against two walks in his six-plus innings of work. 

Travis Wood picked up the win, allowing two solo home runs and nothing much else. Aroldis Chapman continued to struggle, walking four while retiring just one batter to perpetuate the Cardinals' late rally. His ERA stands at 6.92 after the performance, and Reds fans continue to be concerned about their triple-digits relievers. Former Cardinal Scott Rolen went 2-4 with a triple, and Ramon Hernandez hit his sixth home run of the year. 

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St. Louis Cardinals Fall From First Place, Lose 7-3 To Reds

Jon Jay's three-run home run was the only bright spot in a dreary game for the St. Louis Cardinals, who watched new starter Kyle McClellan struggle against a potent Cincinnati Reds offense as local antagonist Johnny Cueto threw nearly eight innings to pick up his second win of the season. McClellan allowed four runs on three homers and struck out just one across six innings, stoking fears about his strikeout rate as a starter. Ryan Franklin continued to struggle, allowing two runs of his own across an inning and a third and increasing his ERA to 9.88. Jay, who replaced Lance Berkman in a double switch after McClellan's exit, drove in rookies Daniel Descalso and Tyler Greene to score the only runs for the Cardinals, who fall to 22-18 on the season, a half-game behind the Reds in the early NL Central playoff hunt. 

In the third and final game of the series the Cardinals will look to get on the board behind Chris Carpenter, who will face young left-hander Travis Wood. Carpenter is 1-2 with a 4.32 ERA, stung by a high batting average on balls in play and some early problems with the home run. Wood is 2-3 despite some excellent peripherals in his first full season as a starter for the Reds. 

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St. Louis Cardinals Fall 6-5 To Cincinnati Reds In Extra Innings

The St. Louis Cardinals couldn't hold a 5-2 lead in their first game at Great American Ballpark and the Cincinnati Reds got to Jason Motte in extra innings as the Cardinals' bullpen coughed up game one of the series to the Reds by a score of 6-5. Albert Pujols and Daniel Descalso had two hits and Matt Holliday went 3-5 in the loss; Kyle Lohse pitched six innings and allowed two runs before being lifted for Miguel Batista in the seventh. 

Batista, who had allowed five unearned runs and just one earned run before Friday, allowed two hits and walked a batter without retiring one before he was removed for Trever Miller, who walked Joey Votto. Fernando Salas, who was outstanding in two no-hit innings, managed to maintain the Cardinals' lead at 5-4 going into the ninth inning, but Eduardo Sanchez blew the save in the ninth inning and Motte allowed a walk-off hit in the tenth. 

Kyle McClellan and Johnny Cueto will start Saturday afternoon's game at Cincinnati, while Chris Carpenter and Travis Wood will take the mound for the final game Sunday. 

St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds Meet Again

The St. Louis Cardinals and the Cincinnati Reds will meet for their second series of the year over the weekend, playing three games at Great American Ballpark starting Friday. Kyle Lohse and Bronson Arroyo are scheduled to kick off the series, with noted kicker Johnny Cueto and Chris Carpenter appearing in the second and third games of the series, respectively. The Cardinals come into the series having taken two of three from the Chicago Cubs, while the Reds, 1.5 games back of St. Louis in the National League Central, won two against the Houston Astros before dropping Wednesday's finale. 

Brandon Phillips might not be quite so antagonistic this time around, but with the NL Central still a toss-up there'll be no shortage of genuine intensity from these rivals-of-necessity. The youngster-heavy lineup the Cardinals won with Thursday in Chicago won't likely be in attendance this weekend; for better or for worse, the Reds just won't get a chance to see Allen Craig at second base. Ryan Theriot, out with oblique pain on Thursday, is likely to play this weekend but could remain a push for Friday night.