Reds pummel the Cardinals 9-1 to split the series

The Cincinnati Reds got strong performances on the mound and in the batters box on Thursday afternoon. Andrew Abbott’s start was cut short by a rain delay, but he combined with the bullpen to shut down the Cardinals and the offense got home runs from Jose Trevino and Spencer Steer as they beat St. Louis 9-1 to earn a split of the 4-game series.

Final
R
H
E

St. Louis Cardinals (14-18)
1
3
1

Cincinnati Reds (17-15)
9
9
1

W: Ashcraft (2-2) L: Liberatore (2-3)

Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread

Cincinnati got on the board first in this one after Gavin Lux drew a 2-out walk in the 2nd inning and then came around to score when Jose Trevino crushed his 3rd home run of the season to make it 2-0 for the home team. That zero didn’t stay on the board for much longer as the Cardinals came up with a 2-out rally of their own in the top of the 3rd that led to a run when a blooper into shallow center fell in for a hit and Elly De La Cruz tried to barehand the ball and had it trickle away from him and that allowed Brendan Donovan to come in and score the first run for St. Louis.

Andrew Abbott returned to the mound and tossed a shutout top of the 4th inning, but that’s when the rain finally arrived at Great American Ball Park and before the bottom of the inning began the tarp was pulled out onto the field.

An hour and 37 minutes later the game resumed. When the Cardinals took the field it was Matt Svanson heading to the mound after the delay, ending the day for Matthew Liberatore. And Cincinnati welcomed him by loading the bases with no outs. Gavin Lux grounded into a force out at second base, bringing in a run. Then Jose Trevino came through with a sacrifice fly to tack on another fun and make it 4-1.

Graham Ashcraft took over on the mound for the Reds in the top of the 5th inning. He breezed through both that inning and the next, needing just 23 pitches to record six outs. In the bottom of the 6th he got some help from Spencer Steer, who hit a solo home run into the seats in left field to put the Reds up 5-1. With a low pitch count Cincinnati had Ashcraft return for the 7th inning and it only took him seven pitches to record two strikeouts and a fly out.

The Reds went to work in the bottom of the 7th inning, but they also got some help from former Red Riley O’Brien. He would walk TJ Friedl and then hit Elly De La Cruz with a pitch. Noelvi Marte and Santiago Espinal then both came through with RBI singles to bring in three more runs and put Cincinnati up 8-1. After Taylor Rogers fired off a perfect top of the 8th, the Reds picked up another run when Matt McLain singled and drove in Friedl, who had reached on an error earlier in the inning.

Holding a 9-1 lead, Cincinnati turned the game over to Luis Mey for his Major League debut. He got to face pinch hitter Nolan Gorman and he struck him out on five pitches to record the first out of the inning. Mey had to battle Alex Burleson for eight pitches but he got him to fly out harmlessly to center. Two pitches later he got Luken Baker to pop up in foul territory to seal the 9-1 win and help the Reds earn a split in the 4-game series.

Key Moment of the Game

Let’s just go with Graham Ashcraft’s performance. When he entered the game it was still within reach, but he dominated on the mound for three innings and the offense tacked on runs to put things away.

Notes Worth Noting

Elly De La Cruz went 0-3, ending his hitting streak at 14 games. But he did walk and was hit by a pitch in the game, which extends his on-base streak to 20 games.

Jose Trevino’s hot start to the year continued with another home run. He’s hitting .324/.365/.544 on the season and has nine extra-base hits and just eight strikeouts through 25 games played.

Graham Ashcraft’s perfect outing lowered his ERA on the season to 0.57 in 15.2 innings.

Taylor Rogers lowered his ERA down to 1.64 with his perfect inning of relief.

Noelvi Marte was in an 0-9 slump before picking up a single in the 4th inning. He would cap off his day with an RBI single, raising his average to .328 through 16 games with the Reds this season.

Tyler Stephenson went 0-5 with a walk for Louisville on Thursday afternoon in Memphis.

Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds

Washington Nationals vs Cincinnati Reds

Friday, May 2nd, 6:10pm ET

TBA vs Hunter Greene (3-2, 2.70 ERA)