Game 1 – Cincinnati 10 St. Louis 1 (Cincy leads 1-0)
A 2 run homer by Zack Cozart in the 2nd inning was all the support that
Johnny Cueto would need. Cueto went 8 innings allowing only 1 run on 3 hits.
Cozart would end up with 2 home runs and 4 RBIs. Jay Bruce went 2 for 5 with
homer and Joey Votto walked 4 times. John Lackey went 5 innings giving up 6 runs
and would not be seen again.
Game 2 – St. Louis 7 Cincinnati 4 (Series tied at 1)
In what would become a trend for St. Louis, the Cards 3 runs in the bottom
of the 8th to tie up the series. Trevor Rosenthal came on to pitch a 1-2-3 9th
for the save. After the Reds had tied the game in the top half of the 8th, the
Cards had 2 runners on via walks with 2 outs in the bottom half of inning.
Kolten Wong hit a ground ball triple just inside the line scoring 2. Matt Adams
lined a single for the final run. The Reds added 2 more home runs, one each for
Jay Bruce and pitcher Mike Leake. Hot hitting Cozart had 2 more hits.
Game 3 – Cincinnati 5 St. Louis 4 (Cincy leads 2-1)
In the pivotal game 3 of a 5 game series the Reds tallied the winning run
on a 2 out double by pinch hitter Skip Schumaker. With 2 outs in the bottom of
the 9th, Todd Frazier smoked a double off the wall in left. After intentionally
walking Marlon Byrd, Schumaker pinch hit for Aroldis Chapman and stroked the
game winner. Reds pitcher Anthony DeSclafini was injured in the 2nd inning.
Manager Scigliano did a masterful job of using his relief staff to pull out the
victory. Cozart went 2-4 and is hitting .538 for the series.
Game 4 – St. Louis 4 Cincinnati 1 (Series tied at 2)
St. Louis’ vaunted starting staff finally came through with a dominant
game. Jaime Garcia went 7 innings allowing 1 run on 3 hits. Kevin Siegrist and
Trevor Rosenthal closed out the victory. Mark Reynolds had the key hit, a 3 run
homer in the 5th that pushed this series back to St. Louis for the deciding
game. Reds pitching has held the Cards to a .183 batting average over the first
4 games.
In a dramatic final game the Cards scored the winning run in the 12th
inning on a wild pitch from Kevin Gregg. Neither first game starters got the
call in the deciding game. The Cards went with Michael Wacha and the Reds went
with Brandon Finnegan.
The game was scoreless until the 4th when Eugenio Suarez, subbing for the
hot hitting Cozart, smacked a 3 run double off the wall in left center. The
Cards finally got to Finnegan in the 5th where a double by Matt Holiday and a
triple by Mark Reynolds closed to the gap to 1. Then the Reds seemed to put the
game away in the top of the 8th. With 2 outs and no one on base, Joey Votto and
Brandon Phillips singled. Todd Frazier followed with a massive bomb to left
center. A double by Suarez and single by Byrd added another run and the Reds
lead 7-2.
The Cards bounced right back. Matt Carpenter doubled home Wong who had
walked to lead off the inning. A wild pitch and sac fly by Jason Heyward plated
2 more. Going to the bottom of the 9th the Cards trailed 7-5.
In came Aroldis Chapman, arguably the best closer in baseball. After giving
up a 1 out single to Yadier Molina, pinch hitter Stephen Piscotty hit a big fly
down the left field line to tie the score at 7.
It would stay that way until the 11th. Matt Holiday was HBP. A single by
Reynolds moved Holliday to second and brought in pinch runner Peter Bourjos. A
hustling Molina avoided the double play and moved Bourjos to 3rd with 1 out. A
wild pitch by Kevin Gregg brought home the winning run and allowed the faithful
to go home happy.
Thanks to Joey Scigliano for a close hard fought series.
--submitted by Ron Burnette--
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