(TSX / STATS) — CINCINNATI — The rebuilding process for the last-place Cincinnati Reds is far from over, but contributions from some of the young players they are pinning their hopes on provided a glimmer of hope for fans on Friday night.
Rookie Jesse Winker and Joey Votto combined to go 4-for-8 with a double and two RBIs, lifting Cincinnati to a 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals in the opener of a three-game series at Great American Ball Park.
Rookie Asher Wojciechowski (2-1) allowed one run on three hits and fanned five in his first outing since being moved into the rotation.
“We’d like to feel like we’re giving our fans a glimpse of the future,” Reds manager Bryan Price said. “We’d like to have way more wins than we have.”
Cincinnati (45-64) has won six of the past seven games against the Cardinals and 12 of 18.
When the teams last met in June, Cincinnati outscored the Cardinals 28-9 while sweeping a four-game series. In the second game of that series, Scooter Gennett became the first Reds player to homer four times in a game.
“We haven’t played our best against them, either,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. “It’s only a matter of time”.
Friday’s starter Mike Leake (7-10) allowed three earned runs on eight hits with no walks and three strikeouts over his six innings.
Leake, the eighth overall choice by the Reds in the 2009 draft, remained winless in seven career starts against his former team.
“It’s part of the game,” Leake said. “Something’s telling me I’m not supposed to beat them yet. I’ve pitched well enough. Probably could have mixed in some off-speed a little more. They all hit hard stuff, for the most part, and they were pretty aggressive down in the zone against me.”
A late rally by St. Louis (53-56) fell short.
The Reds nearly doubled Tommy Pham off second base on a long fly ball which would have ended the eighth inning, but replay confirmed he beat Adam Duvall’s throw.
Carson Kelly followed with an RBI single to cut the Cardinals’ deficit to 3-2. But, Michael Lorenzen struck out Randal Grichuk looking with the bases loaded to end the inning.
With runners on first and third in the ninth, Raisel Iglesias struck out Paul DeJong swinging for his 19th save, cinching another frustrating loss for the Cardinals.
“I think for the most part the guys are trying to enjoy the game even though we’re losing and not putting it together the way we want to,” Leake said. “Guys are still pulling together and playing hard.”
Winker singled and scored from first on Votto’s double to put Cincinnati ahead 1-0 in the first inning. Winker was fortunate not to be thrown out on the play after he ignored a stop sign from third base coach Billy Hatcher.
“I missed that stop sign, for sure,” Winker said. “I had my head down the whole way. Thankfully, it happened the way it did. My motto is to try to be a tough out.”
Greg Garcia tripled off the right-field wall, missing a home run by inches, to lead off the third. He scored when Leake legged out an infield hit.
Leake retired 10 straight batters following a rocky first inning, but the Cardinals couldn’t muster much offense against Wojciechowski. The right-hander allowed just a run on three hits through five innings. He walked one and fanned five over 78 pitches.
With runners at second and third in the fifth, Hamilton singled to drive home Jose Peraza to put the Reds ahead 2-1, but Tucker Barnhart was thrown out at home by right fielder Stephen Piscotty. The call was confirmed after a two-minute, 37-second review.
Cincinnati got that run back when Votto singled to drive in Hamilton to make the score 3-1.
“We put together some good at-bats at times, we just can’t get the big hit,” Matheny said. “That’s how these games are decided. You need that big hit. We’re getting into spots where somebody can come through and change the whole momentum.”
NOTES: The Cardinals recalled RHP Sam Tuivailala from Memphis and optioned RHP Luke Weaver to the Triple-A team. Tuivailala retired the only batter he faced in the eighth inning Friday. … Cardinals RHP Adam Wainwright is expected to come off the disabled list to start Sunday’s game. He’s been on the DL since July 23 with a sore back. … The Reds acquired minor league OF Randy Ventura from the Braves in exchange for international bonus pool space. … Cardinals C Yadier Molina did not start after being hit by a foul tip and backswing on Thursday. He grounded out as a pinch-hitter in the ninth inning Friday.
Photo credit – Sam Greene / Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati, OH
