St. Louis Cardinals’ Randal Grichuk, right, is congratulated by third base coach Chris Maloney as he rounds the bases with a solo home run off Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Anthony DeSclafani during the fifth inning of a baseball game Friday, Sept. 2, 2016, in Cincinnati. Straily pitched well in his last encounter with St. Louis, yielding two runs on five hits in six innings of a no-decision on August 2.WALK-OFFS1.
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The switch-hitter was batting left-handed against Cardinals starter Carlos Martinez when he checked his swing on a 2-1 pitch, and immediately grabbed his left side.
Martinez (13-7) allowed three hits over six scoreless innings before the Reds reached him for three hits and two runs to knock him out of the game three batters into the seventh.
Cincinnati used a couple of Cardinals miscues to squeeze out two runs against Jaime Garcia (10-11). Jedd Gyorko homered for St. Louis (70-64), which entered play on Saturday holding a two-game lead over the New York Mets for the second wild-card spot in the National League.
Hamilton had reached base with four hits and two walks, had scored three runs and had stolen four bases in the first two games of the series besides making a brilliant defensive play on Saturday. The right-hander is 3-1 in six starts against the Cardinals with a 2.25 ERA. “I tried to make it game over”. The 2002 Rangers set the major league record of 27.
“I heard good reports about Mike’s bullpen”, Matheny said. Hamilton has already missed 13 games this season due to various injuries and inconsistency at the plate.
The Cardinals led 5-0 in the sixth when the Reds loaded the bases with one out.
Hamilton ran into umpire Angel Hernandez as he rounded first base and thought about trying for second on an errant throw in the seven the seventh inning.
Grichuk’s 21st homer and ninth since his recall from Class AAA Memphis 3 ½ weeks ago, pushed across Stephen Piscotty, who had opened the inning with a double off Cincinnati rookie Tim Adleman.
Two more former Reds returned to their team in Cincinnati on Sunday. RHP Robert Stephenson (2-0) attempts to become the first Reds pitcher since Wayne Simpson in 1970 to win his first three career starts.
Reds: CF Billy Hamilton, leading the majors in stolen bases, exited in the third after straining his left oblique while taking a strike. But Martinez got Ramon Cabrera to ground into an inning-ending double play. Leake has been on the disabled list following a bout with shingles.
Despite a 9-1 loss on Saturday that clinched a series victory for the Reds, the Cardinals have won 19 of the past 25 series between the clubs.
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For the second straight game, manager Bryan Price had Phillips in his starting lineup before scratching him because of Phillips’ left foot that still was sore after he fouled a ball off of it on Friday.
