CINCINNATI 鈥 There is still some time remaining in the season, but if the Cardinals fall shy of their own expectations, the quick work Cincinnati made of them will be a reason.
It was there along the Ohio River, in short order, they sank back to .500.
In one hour, 59 minutes, the Reds and their starter Hunter Greene worked the Cardinals for a 4-1 victory Tuesday night at Great American Ball Park. The Cardinals managed little in the way of offense, little in the way of threats for offense and got only the spark of a solo home run that came shortly after the Reds had taken a four-run lead.
Cardinals starter Erick Fedde pitched through the sixth inning and allowed two home runs that shifted the game and continued a trend in the series. The Cardinals have lacked thump while the Reds have left the building. Fedde was the Cardinals鈥 headline acquisition at the trade deadline 鈥 a sure sign that they were buyers and aiming to make a play push. They鈥檝e lost eight of their past 12 games to fall back to 60-60 with 42 to play.
People are also reading…
The Reds go for the series sweep Wednesday.
Rising ace Greene buzz-sawed through the Cardinals lineup, stopping only briefly to deal with a slight hiccup on the mound.
During the fifth inning as two wild pitches slipped from his fingers and allowed a Cardinals runner to reach third base, Greene paused on the mound. It appeared that he got ill briefly, spitting into his glove. He then turned around and finished off the inning with a strikeout. Greene held the Cardinals to one run on a solo homer. He permitted three other hits and, sporting a 99-mph fastball, struck out eight to minimize any of the trouble the Cardinals could cause.
The right-hander entered the start with a 1.03 ERA in his previous seven games. The Cardinals entered the game struggling to generate much offensively.
Greene was not the righty to get right against.
The Cardinals鈥 issues with runners in scoring position persisted as they went 0 for 5 against Greene. Two of those at-bats ended with strikeouts in the sixth inning after Victor Scott II鈥檚 leadoff double that zipped off the center field wall. Greene (9-4) had 16 swings and misses, and in those pivotal strikeouts in the sixth inning he threw six fastballs at 98 mph or swifter.
Then he ended each strikeout with an 86-mph slider.
Same pop, different day
As the Reds pulled away from the Cardinals on Monday for a 6-1 win, all of their runs came on home runs while the Cardinals didn鈥檛 muster much production at all.
If it works, why change it?
Cincinnati designated hitter Ty France opened the second inning with a solo homer to double the Reds lead. They had snagged a run against Fedde in the first inning with a two-out RBI single, and from there, the power show was on. France鈥檚 11th homer of the season gave the Reds a 2-0 lead. Four innings later, France鈥檚 presence and previous pop likely played a part in another decision the Cardinals had to make.
A potential double play that only encountered a congestion of fielders and runner and umpire at second base kept the sixth inning alive for the Reds instead of ending it for Fedde. With two outs and a runner at second, switch-hitter Jeimer Candelario came to the plate. The first baseman hits .214 and slugs .325 against lefties, but only into the sixth inning, the Cardinals had little reason to lift starter Fedde (8-6) for the moment. First base gave them a place to put Candelario with a runner at second. But France was the next batter up, and he had the earlier homer against Fedde.
The right-hander faced the switch-hitter.
Candelario hit another homer that doubled the score.
Through the first 16 innings at Great American Ball Park, the Reds had hit five homers to produce all but one of their runs. The Cardinals had a solo homer to show for it.
Arenado answers on his own
The inning after the Reds widened their lead to a grand slam, Nolan Arenado did what he could with the first pitch he saw.
The Cardinals third baseman led off the seventh inning with a home run on the first pitch. Arenado鈥檚 12th homer of the season and 53rd RBI left his bat at 103.9 mph and traveled 400 feet. Arenado blasted a slider that clanked off the ribbon-board advertisements just below the upper deck in left field, and it gave the Cardinals a moment of relief. They鈥檇 dented Greene鈥檚 line, and they鈥檇 finally pierced the claustrophobic feeling of being shutout at Great American鈥檚 small park.
What they didn鈥檛 do was add on to the rally.
Or generate much of one before that, either.
Before Arenado鈥檚 home run, the Cardinals had one spell of 14 batters without a hit. When Arenado grounded out in the first inning with Willson Contreras at second base, Greene began a stretch of 12 consecutive retired Cardinals. The Cardinals鈥 first three hits against Greene all went for extra bases, but only Arenado鈥檚 brought the run home. He did that on his own.
Platoons shape lineup
History gave manager Oliver Marmol somewhat of a guide for his lineup Tuesday against Greene but not as much as the Cardinals鈥 present did.
Jordan Walker, newly back from Class AAA Memphis, had four hits in his seven career at-bats against the Reds right-hander. But such a small sample size and the specifics of those hits were not enough to put Walker in the lineup ahead of left-handed-hitting options. A driving reason behind Walker鈥檚 promotion Monday was to give the Cardinals another right-handed hitter to address issues against lefty pitchers. Marmol said Walker will be used as part of a 鈥減latoon,鈥 and on Tuesday, the evidence of that arrived.
Left-handed hitters without a history against Greene started.
鈥淭he lefties are here to hit righties, and there are certain righties here to hit lefties,鈥 Marmol said before the game when asked about the choices. 鈥淭ake all of it into consideration, and then part of it is also, if there is a tiebreaker, it鈥檚 what are we going to need moving forward from these guys? And if it instills confidence in this is what we鈥檙e going to need you to do moving forward, then that breaks the tie.鈥
The fulcrum of the Cardinals lineup, Paul Goldschmidt, 2 for 15 with six strikeouts vs. Greene, started. So did left-handed hitter Nolan Gorman, 1 for 11 with eight strikeouts vs. Greene. Gorman found himself twice in potential game-shifting at-bats against Greene. In the fifth, Lars Nootbaar reached third on two wild pitches, only to stay there as Gorman struck out. In the seventh, Nootbaar singled to bring Gorman to the plate with two outs and a three-run deficit. Gorman tagged a ball to deep center to end the inning and slip to 1 for 14 vs. Greene with 10 strikeouts.