Cincinnati Reds defeat St. Louis Cardinals 3-2 – MLB Update
The Cincinnati Reds sneaked past the St. Louis Cardinals 3-2 to dent their postseason hopes after an intense ten-inning encounter at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri on Sunday, September 4.
The visitors scored a two-run home-run in the first inning to put early pressure on the Cardinals but the latter showed strong character to hammer a home-run in the same inning to keep the game in balance.
Edgar Renteria unleashed his arms for a 366-feet home-run towards the favoured left field, allowing Brandon Phillips to complete his run and take his average past the .300 mark to .301. Jon Jay smashed the ball to the opposite end of the field in the bottom
of the first inning to bring the Cardinals just one run shy of levelling the score. Gerald Laird’s effort in the fourth inning brought both teams level at 2-2 and it was a pitcher’s game thereon.
Bronson Arroyo showed immense arm strength for the Reds, throwing 111 pitches over eight innings for just two runs. He struck-out five batters in his spell but leaked ten hits which kept the opposition batters content with the progress. Bill Bray came in
as reliever in the ninth inning to pitch a perfect spell for his fifth win this season. His six pitches were enough to shift the tide towards the Reds.
Edwin Jackson was unlucky not to get a result for his hard work from the mound. He threw seven precise-innings for just two runs and struck-out eight batters to keep the Cardinals in contention for a berth in the postseason. Marc Rzepczynski and Octavio
Dotel were accurate as relievers and kept the home team at bay till the ninth inning.
It came down to Francisco Cordero and Fernando Salas to fight it out in the tenth inning. Chris Valaika’s run in the tenth inning followed by Cordero’s perfect depth-pitching sealed it for the Reds and pushed the Cardinals 8.5 games behind Milwaukee Brewers
in the National League Central division.
Salas lost his sixth game of the season after an ordinary performance in the tenth inning. His win-loss record for the season now stands at 5-6.
The Reds lead the series 2-1 and are now inching towards the .500 winning percentage.
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