Tommy Edman hit a walk-off two-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning to lift the St. Louis Cardinals over the visiting Cincinnati Reds 5-4 on Saturday.
Tyler O’Neill hit a two-run double and a sacrifice fly for the Cardinals, who have won the first two games of this three-game series.
Starting pitcher Adam Wainwright allowed three runs on eight hits in seven innings for the Cardinals, who have won two straight after losing their previous three contests.
Wainwright and catcher Yadier Molina started their 316th game together as a battery, tying Warren Spahn and Del Crandall for second all-time among pitcher-catcher combinations.
Nick Wittgren (1-0), the third Cardinals pitcher, worked a scoreless ninth inning to earn the victory.
Paul Goldschmidt went 0-for-4 for the Cardinals as his 46-game on-base streak came to an end.
Reds starting pitcher Hunter Greene allowed one run on two hits in five innings while striking out seven. Reliever Joel Kuhnel (0-1) allowed Edman’s homer and took the loss.
Tommy Pham hit a two-run double and Kyle Farmer went 4-for-4 with for the Reds, who lost for the fourth straight time and seventh in nine games.
Reds first baseman Colin Moran left the game in the seventh inning after a collision with Cardinals runner Dylan Carlson.
The Reds took a 3-0 lead in the third inning. Chris Okey was hit by a pitch in his first big league at-bat and he moved to third on Brandon Drury’s double.
Pham’s double drove them home and Farmer followed with an RBI single.
Tyler O’Neill’s sacrifice fly in the sixth inning cut the Reds’ lead to 3-1. The Reds made it 4-1 in the eighth inning on singles by Farmer, Reynolds and Alejo Lopez against reliever Drew VerHagen.
In the eighth inning, Reds reliever Hunter Strckland hit Nolan Gorman with a pitch, then allowed a Nolan Arenado single and O’Neill’s two-run double as the lead shank to 4-3.
Juan Yepez hit a two-out single in the ninth and Edman followed with his game-winning blast.
–Field Level Media
