Eugenio Suarez Powers Reds Again Tucker Barnhart, Adam Duvall Chip In

Three home runs overcame sloppy play as the Reds took the series from the St. Louis Cardinals with a 7-3 win.

Eugenio Suarez, Tucker Barnhart and Adam Duvall accounted for the Reds offense with a home run apiece.

The first inning for St. Louis was as much and adventure as it was surreal.

Sal Romano got soft contact from the first two hitters, both ended up on base.  Matt Carpenter hit a bloop to left with a shift.  Suarez playing third base in the short stop position, chased the ball toward the line.  The ball hit off his glove.  Yadier Molina didn't even hit it as hard as Carpenter but the ball fell between Scooter Gennett and Phillip Ervin in right field.

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Paul DeJong hit the ball hard to right.  Ervin picked the ball off near the ground and nearly doubled Molina but first baseman Joey Votto had already got himself into the cut off position.  Marcel Ozuna lined out to Billy Hamilton in center field.  Jose Martinez topped the ball toward second base where Jose Peraza and Gennett converged.  Peraza had the ball in his glove but Gennett collided with him and knocked the glove off.  A 2-2 pitch to Dexter Fowler was high but Molina got too far off second and catcher Barnhart threw to Gennett, who sneaked in behind Molina.  Molina stopped and Carpenter took off for home.  Gennett threw to Barnhart.  Carpenter scrambled back to third and beat Barnhart's throw to Suarez.   Romano pitched out of the situation when Fowler topped the 3-2 pitch to third.  Suarez had to charge and make an off balance throw to Votto to nip Fowler.

"That inning I talked to Scooter and everybody.  That first inning was crazy, a couple bloopers. It was like wow, what happened? I tried to tell him (Romano) we got your back. To throw a strike and Fowler hit a little ground ball to me and we got out of the innings," Suarez said.

Riggleman has seen a lot of strange things in his career.

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"Sal pitched good in the first," Jim Riggleman said.  "We played poorly in the first, there was a lot of fluky stuff.  Somehow or other he came out with a zero.  It shows how hard he competed.  He battled.  He knew our bullpen was short today.  He gets a lot of ground balls as the game goes on."

The zero in the first turned the game around and Suarez used more than his glove to show Romano support.

Joe Flaherty, the third straight rookie pitcher to take the mound for the Cardinals, retired Peraza and Gennett but walked Votto.  Suarez hit his third home run in three days, his 2nd to give the Reds a 2-0 lead.  Suarez boosted his National League leading RBI total to 76.

"It is nice man," Suarez said.  "I didn't expect to hit that one out.  One more against St. Louis is nice.  We always want to beat St. Louis especially today my family was here.  I know I have a little bit of pop.  The ball was out off the plate.  My barrel caught the ball and hit it out."

DeJong cut the lead in half with a solo home run off Romano in the third.  It was his ninth of the season.  He hit his eighth on May 11.  DeJong has only been active for 56 games.  He missed time with a hand fracture.

Duvall restored the two-run lead with his 15th home run off Flaherty in the fourth inning.

The Cardinals closed within a run in the sixth inning.  Fowler walked with one out off Romano.  Yairo Munoz hit a long double to the gap in left center.  Fowler was going to stop but the relay was way over Barnhart's head.  Munoz went to third on the throw.   Romaon struck out Harrison Bader for the third time.   Tommy Pham hit for Flaherty.  For the third time this season, Romano fielded a comebacker with his bare hand and threw Pham out to end the inning.

"I thought if I didn't reach that ball it would have been a hit the way Pham runs.  It wasn't hit as hard as the other ones," said Romano of his play on Pham.

"I hate to say we didn't play well but there was a lot of fluky stuff," Riggleman said.  "They got out of a rundown on us.  It felt like we were losing the game, we were in so much trouble each inning,"

The Reds built the lead in the bottom of the sixth against John Gant.  Gennett blooped a single.  Votto walked for the second time in the game.  Suarez lined to DeJong at short stop.  Gennett was doubled off.  Barnhart sent a fastball into the bleachers in right for his sixth home run.

Dilson Herrera batted for Romano and struck out to end the inning.

Romano battled through six innings, allowing two runs on seven hits and one walk.

"It's baseball," Romano said. "The balls they hit hard that inning were right at guys.  The balls they didn't hit found a hole.  It makes you a better pitcher when you get out of those innings."

Yadier Molina hit his 14th home run off David Hernandez in the seventh.

Gennett doubled off John Brebbia with two outs.  Votto drew his third walk.  Suarez struck out to end the inning on a 3-2 pitch.

Jared Hughes relieved Hernandez in the sixth.  Fowler walked to lead off the inning.  Munoz forced Flowler at second.  Bader struck out for the fourth time.  Carpenter fouled off four pitches before working a walk to load the bases, bringing up arch enemy number one, Molina.  Hughes escaped the jam coaxing a routine fly to Ervin in right.

"Hughes is such a great competitor," Riggleman said.  "As much as Carpenter can hurt you. Yady that is the situation he's famous for.  He's made his bones on those situation but Jared got him.  He's a Reds killer."

Barnhart led off the eighth with a walk off Luke Gregerson.  Duvall followed with a double.  Ervin doubled past Bader in center to give the Reds some breathing room as both runners scored.

"It was a better day offensively.  There were a lot of good at bats.  There were some walks in there to extend the innings," Riggleman said.

Austin Brice was elected by Riggleman to mop up.  Brice struck out Jose Martinez to end the game.