Suarez, Reds too strong for Cardinals

[September 14, 2020]  Eugenio Suarez hit an RBI double and a solo homer among his three hits to lift the visiting Cincinnati Reds to a 10-5 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday.

The Reds (21-26) won two of three games from the Cardinals (20-20) for their first series victory since Aug. 7-9. They remained in fourth place, 6 1/2 games back of the NL Central-leading Chicago Cubs but within 2 1/2 games of the second-place Cardinals.

Reds reliever Archie Bradley (2-0) earned the victory. Cardinals reliever John Gant (0-3) sustained the loss and also left the game with a groin muscle strain.

Reds starting pitcher Tyler Mahle lasted just 2 2/3 innings, allowing three runs on four hits and four walks.

Cardinals starter Carlos Martinez struck out eight in four innings. He also allowed three runs on six hits and two walks.

Rangel Ravelo's sacrifice fly put the Cardinals up 1-0 in the first inning, but Brian Goodwin's solo homer tied the game in the second.

Kolten Wong laced an RBI single and Paul DeJong hit a sacrifice fly to put the Cardinals up 3-1 in their half of the inning.

The Reds tied the game in the third. Jose Garcia and Joey Votto each had a single and Suarez hit a fly ball that left fielder Austin Dean lost in the sun for an RBI double. After an intentional walk to load the bases, Tyler Stephenson followed with a bases-loaded walk.

The Cardinals took a 5-3 lead in the fifth on RBI singles by Matt Carpenter and Harrison Bader.

Reds third baseman Eugenio Suarez (7) celebrates with manager David Bell (25) after the Reds defeated the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

The Reds cut the lead to 5-4 in the sixth on Nicholas Castellanos' RBI single, then they rallied for three runs in the seventh.

After Gant allowed Tyler Stephenson's single, Andrew Miller hit Aristides Aquino with a pitch, then walked Freddy Galvis to force in a run. The Reds scored their go-ahead run on Miller's wild pitch, then pushed their lead to 7-5 on Jose Garcia's RBI groundout.

Suarez smacked his 13th homer of the season in the eighth inning to make it 8-5, and Aquino hit a two-run shot in he ninth to make it 10-5.

--Field Level Media

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