LATE COLLAPSE BY PEN OVERSHADOWS CARDS 3 STRAIGHT HRS
Reds 5-Run Rally in 9th Stuns Redbirds
CINCINNATI, Sept. 8 (AP) – The Cincinnati Reds scored five runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to overcome a four-run deficit and stun the St. Louis Cardinals 7-6 at Great American Ballpark. Todd Frazier’s base hit off Trevor Rosenthal plated Billy Hamilton with the game-winner, capping the comeback. The late-inning heroics took much of the shine off the top of the fourth inning when the Cardinals became the first National League team this season to hit three consecutive home runs.
Starters Dylan Axelrod and Shelby Miller matched zeroes through three frames, but the Cardinals burst through in the fourth. Matt Holliday opened the scoring with a one-out solo shot, his 12th long ball of the season, off Axelrod and before anyone could catch their breath, Matt Adams followed with a blast into the right field bleachers, giving St. Louis a 2-0 advantage. Jhonny Peralta then ended Axelrod’s day with his 18th home run of the season. It was only the fifth time this major league season that back-to-back-to-back home runs had been hit, and the first time since late July when the Texas Rangers accomplished the feat in Arlington against the New York Yankees.
Miller was sailing along with a two-hit shutout into the sixth when he waked Hamilton leading off the inning. It was Hamilton’s third walk of the game to that point. One out later, Frazier crushed an 0-1 breaking ball from Miller deep into the lower grandstand down the left field line to cut the Cardinals lead to 3-2.
But St. Louis responded immediately in the top of the seventh with three runs. Oscar Taveras singled with one out and was replaced by pinch runner Peter Bourjos. Kolten Wong followed by lining a base hit to left-center and the speedy Bourjos took third. Carlos Contreras replaced David Holmberg on the mound and his second pitch eluded catcher Devin Mesoraco. The passed ball allowed Bourjos to score the fourth Cardinals run, with Wong advancing to second. Pinch hitter Randal Grichuk went on to draw a walk and Manny Parra replaced Contreras with the lefty swinging Matt Carpenter due up. But Carpenter foiled the strategy by lining a single to right, scoring Wong and chasing Grichuk to third. Jon Jay then drilled a base hit to center, scoring Grichuk. By the time the dust had lifted, St. Louis held a 6-2 lead.
That was the score entering the ninth. Carlos Martinez was entering his second inning of work and surrendered consecutive singles to Mesoraco and Brandon Phillips to open the frame for the Reds. The Cardinals had closer Rosenthal warming just in case and he was immediately ushered into the game to face Jay Bruce and retired the Cincinnati right fielder on a pop to second for the first out. But he walked Chris Heisey to load the bases, bringing the tying run to the plate in the form of pinch hitter Jack Hanrahan. Hanrahan drilled a 1-0 offering past first baseman Xavier Scruggs and down the right field line, scoring two runs and leaving the potential tying runs on second and third. With the infield back, Ramon Santiago rolled out to Wong at second, scoring Heisey and advancing Hanrahan to third. Rosenthal then walked Hamilton—the Reds center fielder’s fourth free pass of the game. Ryan Ludwick was summoned to hit for Brayan Pena and he came through with a base hit through the box on the first pitch he saw from Rosenthal, scoring Hanrahan to tie the game and sending what remained of the sellout crowd into a frenzy. With Hamilton now in scoring position and the crowd on its feet, Frazier strode to the plate and, on a 1-0 pitch, blooped a single to center. With Hamilton, possibly the fastest runner in all of baseball, off on the crack of the bat, Bourjos had no chance at a play at the plate. Hamilton sped around to score, setting off a wild celebration by the Reds and their fans.
The victory by Cincinnati moves the club into a second place tie with St. Louis, 1-1/2 games behind the first place Pittsburgh Pirates and neck-and-neck in the NL wildcard chase.
9/8/2014, StL14-Cin14, Great American Ball Park
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP
2014 Cardinals 0 0 0 3 0 0 3 0 0 6 10 1 7 1
2014 Reds 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 5 7 8 0 6 0
Cardinals AB R H BI AVG Reds AB R H BI AVG
Carpenter,M 3b 4 0 1 1 .248 Hamilton,B cf 1 2 0 0 .249
Jay cf 4 0 1 1 .285 Pena,B 1b 4 0 0 0 .247
Holliday lf 3 1 2 1 .280 Ludwick ph 1 0 1 1 .252
Tuivailala p 0 0 0 0 .000 Frazier 3b 5 1 2 3 .291
Martinez,C p 1 0 0 0 .200 Mesoraco c 3 1 1 0 .315
Rosenthal p 0 0 0 0 .000 Phillips 2b 4 1 3 0 .246
Adams,Ma 1b 4 1 1 1 .289 Bruce rf 4 0 0 0 .202
Scruggs ph 1 0 0 0 .167 Heisey lf 3 1 0 0 .239
Peralta,Jh ss 4 1 2 1 .283 Cozart ss 2 0 0 0 .232
Molina,Y c 4 0 0 0 .296 Schumaker ph 1 0 0 0 .225
Taveras rf 3 0 1 0 .206 LeCure p 0 0 0 0 .000
Bourjos pr 1 1 0 0 .244 Chapman,A p 0 0 0 0 .000
Wong 2b 4 1 1 0 .223 Hannahan ph 1 1 1 2 .229
Miller,S p 2 0 0 0 .132 Axelrod p 1 0 0 0 .200
Grichuk ph 1 1 1 0 .299 Villarreal p 0 0 0 0 .000
36 6 10 5 Bourgeois ph 1 0 0 0 .200
Holmberg p 0 0 0 0 .333
Contreras p 0 0 0 0 .000
Parra,M p 0 0 0 0 .000
Santiago,R ph 2 0 0 1 .259
33 7 8 7
Cardinals INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Miller,S 6.0 3 2 2 3 4 82 50 3.73
Tuivailala H 1 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 7 5 0.00
Martinez,C 1.0 2 2 2 0 2 16 11 3.76
Rosenthal BS 5, L 6-4 0.2 3 3 3 2 0 27 12 2.40
8.2 8 7 7 5 6 132 78
Reds INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Axelrod 3.1 4 3 3 0 2 50 36 3.43
Villarreal 1.2 0 0 0 0 1 16 10 1.23
Holmberg 1.1 2 2 2 1 3 33 20 9.24
Contreras 0.0 0 1 1 1 0 5 1 1.59
Parra,M 0.2 2 0 0 0 0 16 9 3.19
LeCure 1.2 2 0 0 1 1 33 19 4.99
Chapman,A W 1-2 0.1 0 0 0 0 1 3 3 1.96
9.0 10 6 6 3 8 156 98
StL: Bourjos ran for Taveras in the 7th
Grichuk batted for Miller,S in the 7th
Jay moved to lf in the 7th
Bourjos moved to cf in the 7th
Grichuk moved to rf in the 7th
Scruggs batted for Adams,Ma in the 9th
Scruggs moved to 1b in the 9th
Cin: Bourgeois batted for Villarreal in the 5th
Schumaker batted for Cozart in the 7th
Santiago,R batted for Parra,M in the 7th
Santiago,R moved to ss in the 8th
Hannahan batted for Chapman,A in the 9th
Ludwick batted for Pena,B in the 9th
E-Adams,Ma. 2B-Hannahan(5). HR-Holliday(12), Adams,Ma(12), Peralta,Jh(18),
Frazier(34). RBI-Carpenter,M(48), Jay(27), Holliday(70), Adams,Ma(67),
Peralta,Jh(61), Frazier 3(73), Santiago,R(17), Hannahan 2(3), Ludwick(34).
CS-Grichuk, Hamilton,B. K-Carpenter,M, Jay, Peralta,Jh 2, Molina,Y, Wong,
Miller,S, Scruggs, Pena,B 2, Frazier, Mesoraco, Heisey, Bourgeois.
BB-Carpenter,M, Holliday, Grichuk, Hamilton,B 4, Heisey. HBP-Jay, Mesoraco.
PB-Mesoraco. HB-Miller,S, LeCure.
GWRBI: Frazier
Temperature: 70, Sky: clear, Wind: none.
Attendance: 42,399
Game Time: 3:13