After Nolan Arenado’s clutch abilities helped the St. Louis Cardinals to a series win against the Brewers, and the rest of the offense looked to build off of his lead in another series against a division opponent. The Cardinals had struggled on the road so far this year, heading to Cincinnati with a 2-11 record away from Busch Stadium.
The road woes continued as the offense went silent in game one against the Reds but, after a rain out, the bats busted out in a day/night doubleheader sweep, before going quiet again in another wet game in the series finale.
GAME ONE (L 3-1)
The Cardinals got to Reds starter Nick Martinez (1-3) quickly when leadoff man Lars Nootbaar smoked a double to end a six-pitch battle to begin the game and after a strikeout and groundout, Nolan Arenado kept his timely hitting going with a double of his own to drive in the game’s first run. That would be the end of the scoring for the Cardinals for the inning and, spoiler alert, the remainder of the game.
Both starters looked strong in the early innings but the Reds got to Andre Pallante (2-2) in the third when catcher Jose Trevino put a 1-0 fastball 402 feet away over the center field wall to tie the game. Pallante bounced back by getting the next three hitters but the Reds got to him again in the fourth when a one-out single by Gavin Lux set up a go-ahead RBI triple off the bat of Noelvi Marte, who has been scorching hot since being recalled from the minors. Once again, Pallante did a good job to keep the damage there.
The Cardinals next and best chance to score was in the fifth after a Pedro Pages double and Victor Scott II walk had the makings of a big inning. A bunt attempt went awry when Trevino hopped on the ball and got a force out at third then Nootbaar grounded into a double play to take all the momentum away from St. Louis after blowing a great chance to tie the game. Pallante set the Reds down in order to keep things from spiraling but another double play ball ruined another opportunity for the Cardinals.
The final run of the game came in the sixth inning when Lux drove a double to knock in Austin Hays, who drew a one-out walk. Pallante pitched well through his six innings, tallying a quality start, as he struck out four and induced two double play balls. The righty got 14 of his 18 outs via groundouts or strikeouts. On a positive note, the Cardinals bullpen prevented any further damage with Riley O’Brien and John King covering the final two innings to keep the offense in the game. The Reds bullpen was even better, though, as they did not allow a baserunner and struck out four hitters in their three innings of work and Emilio Pagan notched his eighth save of the year.
GAME TWO (W 6-0)
The second game was supposed to take place Tuesday but heavy rains moved the game to a split doubleheader on Wednesday. In the first game of the day, the Cardinals featured a new look lineup as shortstop Masyn Winn hit out of the two-hole for the first time in his career. This move paid instant dividends as Winn hammered the first pitch he saw in that spot for a 400 foot solo home run to the upper deck of the Great American Ballpark.
Miles Mikolas (1-2) looked to keep things rolling after taking a tough no-decision in his last start, when he went six shutout innings but was denied a win after another late game bullpen collapse. He did that and more as he kept a dangerous Reds offense off the board, allowing only three baserunners before giving way to the bullpen again after giving two hits with one out in the sixth inning. Kyle Leahy continued his dominating start to the season by working out of the jam and then pitching a harmless bottom of the seventh inning. The away half of the eighth saw some fireworks, but not because of the offense. Manager Oli Marmol had enough of a miserable strike zone and was given the heave-ho by the home plate umpire but got his money’s worth in the argument, hoping the dugout fence before saying his final piece.
JoJo Romero, who has looked better recently after a tough stretch, was called on to protect the one-run lead in the eighth against the top of the Reds lineup and got three easy outs to keep the Cardinals ahead going into the ninth. After failing to cash in some insurance runs after the Winn homer in the first, the Cardinals offense finally busted out against Alexis Diaz. Willson Contreras led off the inning getting hit by a pitch then, with two outs, Yohel Pozo singled to extend the inning to Victor Scott, who has been turning the corner offensively. Scott unloaded on a hanging slider for a three-run homer to give the Cardinals some breathing room and allowed Ryan Helsley to take a seat. That was not all as Nootbaar and Winn followed with solo shots of their own for a 6-run lead into the bottom of the ninth. Matt Svanson, who had plenty of closing experience in the minors, shut the door as he worked around a one-out walk to end the game with a Cardinal win.
GAME THREE (W 9-1)
After the offensive outburst at the end of game one of the doubleheader, the Cardinals had to wait a few hours before the second game of the twin bill. Facing off against Chase Petty (0-1), who was making his Major League debut, Lars Nootbaar welcomed him to the bigs by taking his 11th lead off walk and Masyn Winn, again in the two-hole, took a 97mph 0-2 fastball to right for a single. Brendan Donovan looked to get the Cardinals on the board but Elly De La Cruz snared a liner with a nice diving play to keep the game scoreless… temporarily. Hitting in the cleanup spot Willson Contreras unloaded on a hanging slider and the ball eventually landed 421 feet away for a 3-0 lead.
Steven Matz got the start for St. Louis and the early lead allowed him to challenge the Reds offense early and often. The lefty allowed a one-out single and stolen base, but got two strikeouts to bring the hot-hitting Cardinals offense back up in the second. The Cardinals kept the pressure on Petty when Jordan Walker smacked a 112.8 mph line drive for an out before Pedro Pages hit one where nobody but a fan could get it for a solo shot and a four-run lead. Matz had to work out of trouble in the bottom of the inning after back-to-back singles but kept both runners stranded when he retired the next three hitters in order.
In the top of the third, the St. Louis offense kept the bats rolling when Winn started the frame with a double and Donovan drove him in with a single. Contreras followed with a single of his own and, after Nolan Gorman drew a one-out walk, Walker squared up another ball but this time, his 113.1mph liner fell for a two-run double. That hit was the last pitch that Petty threw in his debut but the Cardinals greeted reliever Brent Suter with a Pages fielder’s choice RBI and Victor Scott II officially closed the door on Petty’s start with an RBI single of his own. The inning eventually ended with the Cardinals sporting a comfortable 9-0 lead.
Matz did his job in his next two innings, giving up two hits but keeping the Reds off the board before giving way to 27th man Gordon Graceffo (1-0), who needed a positive outing after having a tough start to his 2025 season at both Memphis and his early call-up for the big league team. Besides giving up a lone run in the bottom of the sixth inning, Graceffo was phenomenal in his outing when he threw the final five frames to save the bullpen while also giving the organization newfound hope for his future potential with the team. The young righty threw 73 pitches in his appearance, and only allowed two base runners, while striking out five and consistently hitting the upper-90s with his fastball.
In the two games played on Wednesday, Cardinals pitchers gave up one run on 10 hits in 18 innings, tallying 17 strikeouts and only two walks on the day.
GAME FOUR (L 9-1)
Looking to put their road woes behind and notch back-to-back series wins against division opponents, the Cardinals sent breakout starter Matthew Liberatore (2-3) to the mound in Thursday’s early game to face off against another exciting young lefty in Andrew Abbott. The first inning saw teams trade zeroes and in the top of the second, the Cardinals left two runners on before the Reds got on the board in the bottom of the inning thanks to a two-out, two-run home run by catcher Jose Trevino, his second of the series.
St. Louis received some two out magic of their own thanks to some aggressive base running. Brendan Donovan singled to extend the inning and Nolan Arenado hit a little duck snort into no man’s land behind second base. With Donovan running on contact, he had third base easily but Elly De La Cruz could not pick up the ball cleanly and Pop Warner waved Donovan home and he scored easily as the throw was well up the line, allowing Arenado to move into scoring position. He moved up to third on a wild pitch as Abbott struggled with his command, walking Willson Contreras shortly after to put runners on the corners. Abbott was able to wiggle out of danger, though, as he got DH Luken Baker to hit a lazy fly ball to end the inning.
Liberatore bounced back in the bottom of the third, needing just 10 pitches to get three groundouts to keep the score 2-1 in favor of the Reds but the weather did not cooperate. After Abbott ended the top half of the fourth inning with no further damage, a soggy series continued as the rain became too heavy to keep the game going and the tarp was put on the field for what turned out to be a one hour and 37 minute rain delay. The long layoff meant the end of the road for both starters which also brought an end to Liberatore’s streak of five consecutive starts of throwing at least six innings.
Even with a fresh bullpen, the pitching struggled after the delay and the game got out of hand quickly against the Cardinals relief corps. Matt Svanson came on in the bottom of the fourth and gave up two singles and a walk before recording an out, which he finally got on a force out, but the Reds were able to push across two more runs. After Svanson had a scoreless fifth, Riley O’Brien was tasked with keeping the Cardinals in striking distance but the Reds offense kept hitting as the third reliever gave up three more runs in 1.2 innings of work. Two of the runs scored after O’Brien left the game in favor of lefty John King, who did not do much to inspire confidence for the rest of the bullpen as he gave up two more runs of his own on four hits is his 1.1 innings of relief
Opposite of the St. Louis bullpen, the Reds were able to silence the Cardinals bats as they did not allow a baserunner in their five innings of work, tallying six strikeouts in the process. Graham Ashcraft (2-2) was the main beneficiary of the offensive outburst as he covered three of those innings to pick up the win since Abbott did not go the minimum five innings of work to qualify.
The 9-1 loss was a disappointing end to the series and outside of a few innings of offense, the Cardinals bats were mostly silent. Even in game three’s big win, the final 20 Cardinal hitters were retired in order. Starting pitching was a positive, though, and will need to stay strong when the team returns home for a three-game series against the Mets, who swept the Cardinals in New York in mid-April.
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