The Cincinnati Reds made two errors in the 8th inning and they both cost them a run that turned a tie game into a game where they trailed by two. St. Louis held on from there and the Cardinals were able to complete the sweep in the 3-game series.
FinalRHECincinnati Reds (31-33)3102St. Louis Cardinals (35-28)560W: Stanek (2-0) L: Moll (1-5) SV: O’Brien (17)Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread
The Reds went down in order in both the 1st and 2nd innings. Rhett Lowder got out of a bases loaded jam in the 1st and then out of a 2-on jam in the 2nd to keep St. Louis off of the board. Cincinnati got the offensive output going to begin the 3rd inning when Matt McLain homered on the 7th pitch he saw in his at-bat. Tyler Stephenson followed up with a home run to end his 7-pitch at-bat, too, giving the Reds a 2-0 lead. Lowder came back out for the 3rd and proceeded to walk two batters and strike out the other three. That would be the end of his day after 70 pitches.
Caleb Ferguson took over for the Reds in the 4th and tossed a scoreless frame. Chris Paddack, who had been starting for Cincinnati in the absence of Lowder, made his first appearance from the bullpen when he entered the game to start the bottom of the 5th inning. He gave up back-to-back doubles to start the inning as the Cardinals cut into the lead. After getting the next batter on a strikeout, Paddack gave up a 2-run home run as St. Louis took a 3-2 lead.
Matt McLain came through in the top of the 7th when he hit his second home run of the game, crushing a 96 MPH fastball up in the zone and into the first row of seats in center to tie the game up. The Reds would put two men on later in the inning, setting up JJ Bleday for an RBI opportunity with two outs and he smoked the ball, but JJ Wetherholt made a leaping snag of his line drive to rob him of a hit and end the threat.
Sam Moll took over for Cincinnati in the bottom of 8th inning and St. Louis greeted him with back-to-back singles to start the inning. Victor Scott II then laid down a sacrifice bunt that Moll fielded and fired towards third base to try and get the lead runner but it was nowhere near a covering Sal Stewart and went down the line to bring in the go-ahead run. The next batter was intentionally walked to load the bases.
The Reds then brought in Tony Santillan with the bases loaded and no outs, bringing the infield in to try and get an out of the plate. Santillan got what he needed in a grounder to shortstop but Matt McLain saw the ball clank off of his glove for another error for Cincinnati and another run for the Cardinals. Santillan would get two more groundballs to follow and both led to outs at the plate before he ended the inning on a fly ball to left.
In the top of the 9th Tyler Stephenson picked up a 1-out double but he wouldn’t advance any further than that as former Red Riley O’Brien sealed the win for St. Louis to pick up his 17th save of the season and complete the sweep of Cincinnati.
Key Moment of the Game
The back-to-back errors on batted balls in the bottom of the 8th inning that each allowed a run to score.
Notes Worth Noting
Tyler Stephenson went 3-4 with a double and a home run on the day. That brought his average above the .200 mark. This is only the third time this season in which a game has come to an end and he’s had his average over .200.
Matt McLain has homered twice in a game two times this season. He’s also homered in back-to-back games twice this season. He only homered twice in April and had three home runs in May. McLain now has three in June in just five games.
Rhett Lowder walked five batters and hit another one in his 3.0 innings and as a team the Reds had more walks (8) than strikeouts (7). Cincinnati’s offense did not walk in the game and they had nine strikeouts.
Spencer Steer’s 24-game on-base streak ended in this game when he went 0-4.
The loss puts the Reds two games under .500 for the first time in 2026.
In the game preview it was mentioned that Jose Trevino played on Saturday but wouldn’t play again on his rehab assignment until Wednesday but no one was reporting why. Jim Day mentioned during the broadcast that he had a “personal situation he needs a couple of days to take care of” before his return to rehab games on Wednesday.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds vs San Diego Padres
Monday June 8th, 9:40pm ET
Andrew Abbott (4-3, 4.06 ERA) vs Walker Buehler (3-3, 4.53 ERA)
