CINCINNATI -- Matt Adams homered and Michael Wacha pitched six strong innings, lifting the St. Louis Cardinals to a 4-1 victory over the previously unbeaten Cincinnati Reds on cool, but sunny Saturday afternoon at sold-out Great American Ball Park.

Reds third baseman Todd Frazier started the scoring for Cincinnati (4-1) in the first inning with a line drive home run barely clearing the left field wall to put the Reds ahead 1-0.

It was Frazier's third home run this season, coming on a 3-0 pitch from Wacha.

Frazier's error in the second, along with a hit batter and single, helped the Cardinals load the bases against Reds starter Johnny Cueto.

Second baseman Kolten Wong's sacrifice fly tied the score 1-1.

Cueto (0-1) didn't have his dominant stuff on Saturday, but he got a boost from his defense early on when left fielder Marlon Byrd and center fielder Billy Hamilton contributed diving catches.

Adams untied the score with a solo home run off Cueto in the fourth. The first baseman's first homer of the season put St. Louis ahead 2-1.

The fifth inning began promisingly for the Cardinals when Wong led off the inning with a single, but he was picked off first by Cueto.

Wacha bent but didn't break on Saturday.

Cincinnati stranded runners in scoring position with less than two outs in the third, fourth and fifth innings, and catcher Devin Mesoraco at second with two outs in the sixth and first baseman Joey Votto at third with two outs in the eighth.

The Reds were 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position on Saturday.

The game was delayed several minutes during the seventh inning after a fan was struck by Marlon Byrd foul ball. Wacha was given a few warmup pitches during the delay. Two batters later, Wacha walked Phillips and was replaced by right-hander Seth Maness.

Wacha (1-0) allowed one run on five hits with a walk and two strikeouts.

Leading 2-1, Cardinals manager Mike Matheny went with closer Trevor Rosenthal with one out in the eighth inning. He got through the eighth and ninth innings for his second save.

The Cardinals gave Rosenthal a couple of insurance runs in the ninth off right-hander Burke Badenhop when RBI singles from shortstop Jhonny Peralta and catcher Yadier Molina made the score 4-1.

NOTES: Reds manager Bryan Price used the same batting order for each of the first five games this season, something he did just 12 times last year due to injuries. The Reds used 130 lineups in 2014, seventh-most in the National League. ... Cardinals C Ed Easley, recalled from Triple-A on Friday when C Tony Cruz went on paternity leave, has played 646 minor league games since he debuted in 2007. ... Cardinals INF Pete Kozma turned 27 on Saturday. ... Reds CF Billy Hamilton is 7-for-7 in career stolen-base attempts against St. Louis C Yadier Molina. ... Cincinnati failed to start a season 5-0 for just the fifth time since 1900.