LDN - Sports

Votto caps Reds' comeback win vs. Cards

[May 01, 2017] ST. LOUIS -- Facing a bases-loaded situation in the eighth inning of a tie game, managers would not prefer many hitters other than Joey Votto to be at the plate.

"We had to get to that point first," Cincinnati Reds skipper Bryan Price said.

The Reds did that by rallying from a four-run deficit, and then Votto delivered the game-winning run with a single off Trevor Rosenthal to give Cincinnati a 5-4 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday.

Adam Duvall matched his career high with four hits as the Reds broke a four-game losing streak with only their second win in the past 10 games.

"We've got to continue to chug along and get better," Votto said. "We've got to take it. We have to go out there and take it. Games like this are how you set that sort of tone."

The Reds got five scoreless innings from their bullpen to allow the offense time to come back and win the game.

"We never stopped fighting," Duvall said. "That's kind of what I see from this team. We're not out of it until it's over. That was a satisfying win."

On the other side, it was a tough loss for the Cardinals.

"We make a big deal when we come back from a 4-0 deficit, and I think the same thing has to be said on the opposite side when you blow a 4-0 lead," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "Those hurt. That's one of those games you're going to look at and realize you need to put away."

The Reds began their comeback with a run in the sixth off Cardinals starter Mike Leake. Duvall led off the inning with a double, and he scored on a one-out single by Scott Schebler.

In the seventh, the Duvall-Schebler combination struck again, this time against relievers Matt Bowman and Brett Cecil. Duvall's two-out double, his fourth hit and third double, drove in Billy Hamilton, and Duvall scored on a single by Eugenio Suarez to cut the deficit to 4-3.

Cecil relieved Bowman and was greeted by a double by Schebler, his third hit and second double, which drove in the tying run.

The Reds completed the rally in the eighth against Rosenthal. A leadoff walk, a single and another walk loaded the bases with no outs. Rosenthal struck out Zack Cozart, but Votto's single off a 100 mph fastball drove in the go-ahead run.

"The typical dream doesn't involve Trevor Rosenthal," Votto said of his game-winning hit. "He's a tough guy to match up against. He's throwing hard as ever. I missed two of them, and I happened to put the third one in play. He broke my bat on it, too."

In his career against Rosenthal, Votto had been 0-of-5 with three strikeouts.

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Reds third baseman Eugenio Suarez (7) blows a bubble during the second inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

"Joey had to kind of respect the changeup and the breaking ball," Price said. "He had the two foul balls to the left side. So I'm sure in that situation, the whole bag of tricks is open -- the 100 mile-an-hour fastball and a really, really good changeup -- and he had to respect both of them and he battled."

Reds closer Raisel Iglesias was able to protect the one-run lead for the final two innings, stranding a runner at third in the ninth, to earn his fourth save.

"You've got to give credit to them for continuing to put pressure on us," Cardinals first baseman Matt Carpenter said. "Certainly we felt we had the game in hand, but it just didn't work out."

Carpenter's bases-loaded double in the fifth staked the Cardinals to the 4-0 lead. Carpenter is now 19-for-32 (.594) in his career with the bases loaded plus three walks and 14 sacrifice flies.

"I've always been a guy who is patient at the plate," Carpenter said. "In that situation, pitchers can't afford to walk you. I feel like I get good pitches to hit more often in that spot because there is no place to put you."

The loss was only the third in the past 12 games for the Cardinals, who started the year 3-9 but ended April with a .500 record at 12-12.

"We've been playing well," Carpenter said. "Today's game just got away from us. That's really all there is to it."

NOTES: A makeup date has not been announced for the game rained out on Saturday. The Reds (11-13) have one more scheduled trip to St. Louis, in September. ... The Cardinals were rained out three times at home in April, after having three games total postponed in the first month of the season in the first 11 years at the latest Busch Stadium. ... Reds C Devin Mesoraco, who played his first game in the majors in more than a year on Friday, will catch five of the next 10 games so he can work with each of the team's starters. ... Lucas Wacha, brother of the Cardinals' Michael Wacha, signed a free agent contract with the Dallas Cowboys following the NFL draft. Lucas Wacha was a linebacker at Wyoming.

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