Despite an early start, the St Louis Cardinals offense were unable to chase Brady Singer from the game, and eventually fell into a deficit they couldn’t overcome, as the Cincinnati Reds salvaged the final game of their series Sunday, Aug. 31 with a 7-4 outcome.
The Cardinals claimed two runs in the top of the first, when with two runners on and one out, Nolan Gorman delivered a sacrifice fly to left field that allowed Lars Nootbaar to score and Iván Herrera to advance to second. Thomas Saggesse brought Herrera home with an RBI single in the next at-bat. The Reds would respond in the bottom of the second, first when Ke’Bryan Hayes sent a grounder to right field to score Gavin Lux. He along with Spencer Steer would score to give the Reds the lead on TJ Friedl’s single. Nootbaar would tie the game in the top of the third when the Cardinals successfully challenged the call at the plate, where he had initially been called out after Herrera’s sacrifice fly.
The Reds would take the lead for good in the bottom of the fifth, when Austin Hays delivered a two-run shot to left field. Jimmy Crooks would bring the Cardinals back within one in the seventh with his first Major League hit, a home run to right field. Hayes would respond with an RBI single in the seventh, and Matt McLain would wrap up the scoring with a solo home run in the eighth.
Singer went six innings in the win, striking out eight Cardinal batters while allowing three runs on five hits. The Reds bullpen added seven strikeouts, also not allowing any walks, with Emilio Pagán claiming his 26th save of the year. Andre Pallante took the loss, lasting five innings and allowing five runs on six hits and four walks with six strikeouts. All three runs in the second were unearned after a fielding error by César Prieto allowed Lux to reach.
The Cardinals slip to 68-70, 5.5 games behind the Mets for the third wild card spot. They now return home to Busch Stadium for the start of a three-game series Monday afternoon against the Athletics, with Sonny Gray getting the start. First pitch is at 1:15 p.m.