Cardinals 8, Reds 5: Allen Craig and Yadier Molina hit back-to-back home runs to spark a six-run sixth inning as visiting St. Louis rallied to beat Cincinnati and pulled within six games in the National League Central race.
The Reds and starter Mat Latos (10-4) appeared to be in control until the sixth, when Craig launched a three-run shot - his 19th - to tie it at 5-5 and Molina followed with his 17th to give St. Louis the lead.
Cardinals manager Mike Matheny had a quick hook on starter Lance Lynn, who allowed four runs on six hits before leaving with two on and no outs in the third. Joe Kelly (4-5) picked up the slack with three innings of one-run ball for the win, and four relievers worked one scoreless frame apiece with Jason Motte earning his 30th save.
The Reds brought the tying run to the plate with two outs in the ninth, but Motte struck out Scott Rolen to end it.
Craig went 3-for-5 to extend his hitting streak to a career-best 13 games, the longest active streak in the majors. Molina and Skip Schumaker also had three hits apiece for the Cardinals.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The Cardinals have hit back-to-back homers eight times this season. … Reds rookies Zack Cozart (11 games) and Todd Frazier (nine games) both extended their career-best hitting streaks. Frazier went 3-for-4 and is hitting .438 during his streak. … The Reds have lost nine straight games on Fridays. … St. Louis pitchers combined for 14 strikeouts. … Cardinals RHP Edward Mujica has thrown 11 1/3 scoreless innings in 11 appearances since being acquired from Miami.
St. Louis | Cincinnati | |
Lance Lynn | Player | Mat Latos |
No Decision | W/L | Loss |
2.0 | IP | 5.0 |
1 | Strikeouts | 5 |
6 | Hits | 9 |
18.00 | ERA | 12.60 |
St. Louis | Cincinnati | |
Skip Schumaker | Player | Todd Frazier |
3 | Hits | 3 |
0 | RBI | 1 |
0 | HR | 0 |
3 | TB | 3 |
.750 | Avg | .750 |
Team | Hits | HR | TB | Avg | LOB | K | RBI | BB | SB | Errors |
St. Louis | 14 | 2 | 20 | .368 | 12 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Cincinnati | 13 | 0 | 15 | .333 | 23 | 14 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 |