Cincinnati Reds topple St. Louis Cardinals, 9-7: MLB Recap
Brandon Phillips and Jay Bruce both lit the lamp with a two-run double, and the Cincinnati Reds held on to take down the St. Louis Cardinals with a 9-7 victory, at the Great American Ball Park on Sunday night.
Ramon Hernandez and Chris Heisey both hit a solo homer for the Reds, who completed a three-game sweep of St Louis for the first time since September 11-13, 2007 and have won nine of 11 games overall.
Travis Wood (3-3) worked six successful innings, giving up two runs on seven hits. He walked one and struck out three. Francisco Cordero retired two batters for his seventh save of the season.
"We battled, played good defense and we hit today," Wood said. "We've been hitting well all series. We were able to put together some good swings, manage some runs and pull it out."
Lance Berkman and Yadier Molina both found back-to-back solo homers for St. Louis, which has lost four of its previous five contests. Ryan Theriot and Nick Punto both added a two-run double in the top of the ninth inning.
Chris Carpenter (1-3) was beaten for nine hits and eight runs in the losing effort. He fanned five and walked two. Carpenter had gone 10-0 over his last 12 starts against the Reds coming into the game.
The Cardinals got the scoring started in the second when Berkman and Molina hit back-to-back homers.
Hernandez ripped a shot to right leading off the third to put Cincinnati on the board and the Reds went ahead by two more runs in the fourth to go in front.
Bruce reached with a one-out single and he took advantage of a throwing error on Jon Jay to score on Scott Rolen's base hit to centre. Rolen took third and crossed the plate on a ground out by Fred Lewis to stake the Reds on top 3-2.
Rolen knocked in a run with a triple in the sixth and the Reds broke it opened in the seventh.
With three bases loaded and one down, Phillips chased in two with a double and then Trever Miller came on and was provided with a two-run double by Bruce for an 8-2 edge.
Heisey notched a solo homer in the eighth to give Cincinnati an apparently secure advantage.
Aroldis Chapman extended the lead to 9-2 and walked the bases loaded with one out. Pinch-hitter Allen Craig pulled yet another free pass to force in a run and Nick Masset was brought in, but allowed a two-run double to Theriot.
Cordero then served up a two RBI double to Punto to make it a 9-7 game. Albert Pujols was hit by a pitch and Matt Holliday placed into a fielder's choice, leaving runners on the corners. Berkman went down on strikes to end the contest.
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