Cincinnati Reds put St. Louis Cardinals wild card race on hold with 3-1 win – MLB News
Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday, October 2, made a comeback and beat the St. Louis Cardinals 3-1 to keep the latter’s race for Wild Card berth on hold. At Busch Stadium, the Cardinals could not keep their sway on the game and yielded to pressure exerted by the Reds.
Cardinals had made it to the postseason through the Wild Card last season and ended up winning the World Series. Defending the championship, this year things have been on edge for a while and the Redbirds are a game away from getting that magic Wild Card again.
"All they need is a chance," said Jay Bruce, who had an RBI single in the sixth. "We saw that last year. They got in and they made the best out of it, literally made the best out of it. They won the World Series.”
"We're just going to keep playing good baseball and prepare ourselves for the playoffs. If that means they don't make the playoffs, so be it,” said Bruce.
It was Matt Holliday who led a supposedly strong foundation for the Cardinals with first run in the first inning. However, Scott Rolen smashed a homer in the fourth against Chris Carpenter to tie the score.
Jay Bruce then hit an RBI single to take the Reds lead 2-1 and Dioner Navarro hit an RBI in the sixth to give a safe 3-1 lead to the team. Carpenter surrendered three runs in his six innings.
"I've said all along this is like my third spring training start in a key situation," Carpenter said. "I'm concerned about the stuff and the sharpness and tonight it was better than the last time.”
With the offence at its strongest, it was then Sam LeCure, Sean Marshall, Jonathan Broxton who pitched as relievers to keep the Cardinals' batters at bay after Mat Latos gave up a run in his five innings.
Aroldis Chapman came in the ninth to have the 38th save of the season, facilitating the team’s 3-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.
Cardinals have to win Wednesday’s game at every cost to edge their way into the Wild Card spot.
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