Munoz shines as Cardinals knock off Reds

[July 22, 2019]  Yairo Munoz singled, tripled and homered to lift the St. Louis Cardinals to a 3-1 win against the host Cincinnati Reds in the finale of their four-game series on Sunday afternoon.

Munoz drove in two runs and scored two for St. Louis, which won three of four in the series.

Cardinals starter Jack Flaherty blanked the Reds over 4 1/3 innings, but remains winless over his past 11 starts. Flaherty scattered six hits, struck out seven and walked two.

Giovanny Gallegos (2-1), Andrew Miller, John Gant and Carlos Martinez combined to hold the Reds to one run and one hit over the final 4 2/3 innings.

Reds starter Anthony DeSclafani (5-5) struck out a career-high 11 batters in six innings. He allowed two runs (one earned), four hits and didn't walk a batter.

Phillip Ervin hit a pinch-hit solo homer in the eighth to cut the lead to 2-1. Joey Votto had two hits for the Reds

The Cardinals took a 2-0 lead in the second inning.

Tyler O'Neill singled to start the inning, stole second and took third on a ground out. O'Neill then scored on an infield single by Munoz.

Andrew Knizner followed with a single before he and Munoz pulled off a double steal to put runners on second and third. Munoz scored and Harrison Bader reached safely when a ground ball got under the glove of Reds third baseman Eugenio Suarez for an error.

Cardinals third baseman Yairo Munoz (34) hits an RBI single against the Cincinnati Reds in the second inning at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

DeSclafani avoided further damage when he struck out Flaherty and leadoff hitter Tommy Edman to end the inning.

Gallegos relieved Flaherty with the bases loaded and one out in the fifth and he struck out Josh VanMeter and Scooter Gennett to end the inning and maintain the shutout.

Gallegos struck out two more Reds in the sixth. Miller did the same in the seventh before giving up Ervin's home run with one out in the eighth. Martinez worked the ninth for his eighth save.

Munoz was stranded at third after delivering the first triple of his major league career to start the seventh, but came back with a solo homer in the ninth to make it 3-1.

--Field Level Media

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