The St. Louis Cardinals scored five runs off Luis Castillo all after two were out in the inning. The Cardinals held on to claim its ninth straight win in 2018 against the Reds, 6-4.
St. Louis has bested the Reds in their last 13 meetings. Michael Wacha has won his 10th straight decision over the Reds.
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"We have to somehow turn those three run innings into one-run innings or fours to two or something. It is asking a lot of our club to fight back every night. It's going to happen. It's part of baseball but it's been happening too much lately," Jim Riggleman said. "The other side of that you saw the talent of Castillo the last three innings. He was outstanding. It's exciting to know he'll be around here for a long time once he gets over these growing pains."
The Reds faced an uphill battle against Wacha. The Reds have a 1-10 record against the Cardinals hurler. The Cardinals have won his last 12 starts against the Reds, coming into the game. He is 9-0 against the Reds in that span. The last time the Reds beat Wacha was on September 9, 2014.
Wacha, a .045 hitter, walked to open the Cardinals third. Carpenter singled. Pham struck out for the second time but Castillo walked Martinez to load the bases. Ozuna popped foul to Joey Votto at first for the second out. Yadier Molina cleared the bases with a long double to left center to give the Cardinals a 5-0 stranglehold on the Reds.
Scooter Gennett singled to lead off the bottom of the fourth. Eugenio Suarez launched a 448 foot blast on a 3-1 pitch to take over the NL lead with 47 RBI. His 12th home run of the season pushed him two RBI ahead of Gennett at the top of the league's RBI lead.
Mike Mayers relieved Wacha with a runner on and two outs in the sixth.
Austin Brice took over for Castillo, who retired 10 of the last 11 batters. He finished with six innings, allowing five runs on four hits and three walks. Castillo struck out 10.
"I went out there to compete today. I tried to do my best. They got two runs in the first and the other runs. After that I picked up the pace," Castillo said. "You have to be strong mentally as well as physically. That's part of the game. If i get mad at myself, it's worse for me and worse for the team. I just try to keep competing with two outs."
Brice gave up Carpenters eighth home run with two outs in the seventh to make it a 6-2 game.
Jose Peraza doubled to extend his hitting streak to 12 games against Mayers, opening the seventh. One out later Scott Schebler doubled to make it 6-3.
David Hernandez picked up Brice after Molina led off the eighth with a single. He walked Greg Garcia but pitched out of the inning.
Jesse Winker hit his third home run of the season off Sam Tuivailala with one out in the eighth to bring the Reds within two runs. Curt Casali singled to bring the tying run to the plate. Peraza's second hit of the game brought Brandon Dixon, who entered as a double switch in the sixth, representing the go-ahead run. Dixon hit the ball hard but right at right fielder, Schebler was thrown out on a reviewed play to end the inning..
Jordan Hicks, who can throw the ball at speeds in excess of 100 mph, entered the ninth Hicks was seeking his first career save. Hicks struck out pinch hitter Alex Blandino looking but Votto hit a 101 mph hit into left field for a single. Gennett struck out swinging. Suarez struck out swinging to give Hicks the save.
It was another frustrating loss to a team that has had their number for a long time. The loss dropped the Reds to 21 games under .500, the low point of the season so far.
"We don't allow the spirit to dwindle. It hasn't happened. It's not going to happen. It is a statement about our coaches. We'll keep pushing them. Fans are buying tickets to these ballgames. That's a requirement to give a good effort. Our players do that," Riggleman said.
"We don't accept morale victories but we keep grinding. Our starting pitchers are going to stop putting us in these holes. My message to the team after the game is it's exciting to see what Luis did. There's a down side the runs they scored early but it shows them how good they can be."
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