The St Louis Cardinals stranded five runners early in Monday night’s game at Cincinnati, then fell behind in a 6-1 loss at Great American Ballpark.

The Cardinals threatened in the second with the bases loaded, only for Pedro Pagés to ground into a double play. They would get on the board in the third with a Nolan Arenado single, but couldn’t bring anyone else across the plate after Brendan Donovan struck out to end the inning with the bases loaded. The Reds would take advantage, with back-to-back home runs by Spencer Steer and Elly De La Cruz to put Cincinnati up 3-1. Steer added a three-run home run in the fifth to complete the scoring.

All six runs were given up by Sonny Gray, who took the loss in five innings of work. He allowed five hits and two walks while fanning nine. Andrew Abbott went 6.2 innings in the win, allowing just the one run on five hits and two walks while notching six punchouts.

The Cardinals are just one game above .500, trailing Milwaukee in the NL Central by seven games and Atlanta in the wild card race by two. The Cardinals and Reds meet up again Tuesday evening, with first pitch at 5:40 p.m.