The Cincinnati Reds had to play from behind early, but after the Cardinals scored a run in the top of the 1st inning their bats went silent. The Reds were able to scrape together single runs in three different innings in the middle of the game and the pitching took care of the rest as they defeated the Cardinals 3-1 to open up their 4-game series.
Final
R
H
E
St. Louis Cardinals (12-17)
8
13
0
Cincinnati Reds (16-13)
7
10
2
W: Martinez (1-3) L: Pallante (2-2) SV: Pagan (8)
Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread
Nick Martinez hasn’t been nearly as good in 2025 as he had been in 2024. And after the St. Louis Cardinals had two doubles that led to a run in the top of the 1st inning things may have been hitting that “uh oh, here we go again” stage for some on-lookers. But Martinez settled in after Nolan Arenado’s RBI double and kept the Cardinals off the board in both the 2nd and 3rd innings.
Jose Trevino led off the bottom of the 3rd inning with a game-tying home run. And inning later the Reds would take the lead when Gavin Lux singled and came around to score on a triple into left-center.
St. Louis didn’t just roll over. In the top of the 5th inning they would get a leadoff double from Pedro Pages and then Victor Scott drew a walk to put two men on with no outs in the 1-run ballgame. That’s when Masyn Winn laid down a bunt, but Jose Trevino made an outstanding play to field in and fire to third on the run to get the lead runner. Lars Nootbar absolutely got into the ball, but his hard grounder at 105 MPH off the bat was snagged on one hop by Matt McLain who spun and threw to second where Elly De La Cruz caught it, stepped on the base and fired to first to complete a double play to end the threat and the inning.
Cincinnati tacked on a run in the bottom of the 6th inning with a little help from the Cardinals starter Andre Pallante. He issued a 1-out walk to Austin Hays and it turned out to be one of those walks that haunts because the next pitch saw Gavin Lux send a double the other way and Hays score from first base to make it 3-1.
Nick Martinez turned the game over to the bullpen to begin the 7th inning as he completed his best outing of the year. The relievers picked up where he left off. Graham Ashcraft struck out the side in a perfect 7th. Tony Santillan picked up a strikeout in a perfect 8th inning. And then Emilio Pagan threw a perfect 9th inning to pick up his 8th save of the season and extend the Reds winning streak to five games.
Key Moment of the Game
The Reds defense in the 5th inning. It started with Jose Trevino’s play on the attempted sacrifice bunt to get the lead runner at third and it finished with Matt McLain’s highlight reel double play to end the inning.
Notes Worth Noting
Elly De La Cruz extended his hitting streak to 12 games and his on-base streak to 17 games.
Gavin Lux also extended his hitting streak to 12 games and his on-base streak sits at 13 games. He’s hitting .352/.438/.473 this season through 27 games.
Noelvi Marte had a hit and two walks. Through his first 13 games with the Reds this season he’s hitting .370/.431/.696 with five walks and just six strikeouts.
Reds hitters walked four times and only struck out four times in the game. Reds pitchers only walked two batters and had seven strikeouts.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
St. Louis Cardinals vs Cincinnati Reds
Tuesday, April 29, 6:40pm ET
Brady Singer (4-0, 3.62 ERA) vs Miles Mikolas (0-2, 5.70 ERA)
/Winners%20&%20Losers%20header%20template%20(2).webp?ssl=1 "5 Winners and 2 Losers from the first 2026 pre-season test in Bahrain – who was left itching to make up for lost ground?")
