Hunter Greene, Jonathan India and Joey Votto on his 40th birthday returned to the Reds lineup.
All three made major contributions to the Reds' series salvaging 7-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals, keeping the home teams playoffs hopes in focus.
"We are at must win stage now," Votto said. "We have 17 games remaining and a lot of good teams ahead of us. All of these games feel, must winish. We take them all seriously. To round out a series with a win after two tough losses is a big deal.
India missed 39 games with plantar fasciitis in his left foot. India lined his 15th home run of the season in his first plate appearance. Will Benson also victimized Miles Mikolas with his 10th home run later in the inning.
"It definitely felt good to be out there with the guys and get a W," India said. "I worked really hard to get back. I'm happy I'm back."
"It hasn't been a great month for the Reds or the last two months," India said. "We have to give it all we've got. It sucked sitting out two months. I hate that. I love to be on the field. This was something I didn't want to mess with. The pain went away pretty quick but it was the trusting it again and building up, making sure I can give all I've got when I'm on the field. It was something, that I didn't want to affect my career. I took a step back and learned some things about my body."
Greene recovered from Covid and started the game for the Reds. He walked one batter in each of the first three innings but did not allow a hit. The Cardinals got a run back when Nolan Arenado reached on third baseman Spencer Steer's error leading off the fourth inning. A walk to Tyler O'Neil moved Arenado into scoring position. With two outs Andrew Knizner broke a personal 1-for-23 slump by slapping an RBI single past India to drive home Arenado with an unearned run.
TJ Friedl tripled and scored on Steer's single in the sixth inning to extend the Reds' lead. Nick Martini tripled in the gap between the right and center fielder to add the Reds' fourth run. Cardinals' manager Oliver Marmol brought on Andre Palante to pitch to Votto. Pinch runner Harrison Bader scored on Votto's RBI ground out.
Greene pitched six inning and the only blemish was an unearned run. He walked four and allowed just one hit with nine strikeouts. Greene retired the last seven batters he faced.
"Walks were the frustrating part," Greene said. "Looking at the side of the game where you can be better and improve on in situations, I have to limit them. Overall being able to put guys away when I needed to, I feel like I did a good job of that. On the last batter (Luken Baker strikeout), I was trying to finish strong getting to three balls there. I feel like I'm a lot better in those situations in general. I wanted to bear down. I didn't want to walk him. I knew what my pitch count was and did not want David to come out there."
Friedl hit a pitch from left handed pitcher Andrew Suarez into the right field seats for his 13th home run in the seventh inning. Votto drilled another pitch from Suarez into the stands for his 14th home run of the season on his 40th birthday.
It was the fourth time that Votto has homered on his birthday and his flair for dramatics on his return equals what he did earlier in the season after missing most of the season with shoulder surgery.
"How many seasons have I played? Sixteen so I've hit one in four on my birthday. I'm not worried about the first game. Frankly, I'm focusing on being available to play and help the team. That sounds cliche but that's as sincere as I possibly can be," Votto said.
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