Saturday’s Game Report: Reds 5, Cardinals 2
When Matt Carpenter led off Saturday night’s game with a triple and was stranded on third, it set a theme for the Cardinals for the evening.
The Cardinals ended up stranding four runners on third as they saw their five-game winning streak come to an end with the loss to the Reds in the opener of the two-game series in Monterrey, Mexico.
The Cardinals had just one hit in 12 at-bats with a runner on either second or third and left two more runners on second in addition to the runners they could not drive in from third.
Here’s how the game broke down:
At the plate: In addition to leaving Carpenter on third base in the first, the Cardinals also stranded Carpenter at third in the fifth, Marcell Ozuna on third in the sixth and Harrison Bader on third in the ninth … The runs came from an RBI single by pitcher Adam Wainwright in the second, the first RBI from a Cardinals’ pitcher this season and just the third hit by a pitcher in 21 at-bats, and a home run by Kolten Wong leading off the ninth, his fourth of the season … Paul DeJong was hitless in five at-bats, snapping his career-high streak after 12 games … Paul Goldschmidt had a pair of singles, his first multi-hit game since his three-homer game in the second game of the season … The Cardinals got the tying run to the plate in the ninth with one out but Goldschmidt and DeJong both were retired on fly balls.
On the mound: Adam Wainwright did not allow a hit through the first five innings with the Reds’ only baserunners coming on two walks before he gave up a leadoff homer in the sixth that tied the game … Another leadoff homer in the seventh ended Wainwright’s night and sent him to his first loss of the season … Wainwright became the first Cardinals’ starter to work into the seventh inning this season and he allowed just three hits, but two were the home runs … The Reds added three runs in the eighth off Tyler Webb and Mike Mayers. During their five-game winning streak, the relievers had allowed only one run while pitching a combined 18 2/3 innings.
Key stat: The Cardinals have not won more than five games in a row in April since 2005, when they won six consecutive games. Their longest winning streak in April in team history was a 12-game streak in 1982.
Worth noting: Top prospect Nolan Gorman hit his fourth home run for Class A Peoria on Saturday. Through the first 10 games of the season, the 18-year-old Gorman is hitting .395 with the four homers and 13 RBIs. He leads the Midwest League in homers and RBIs and has the third-best average in the league … The game was the first National League game outside of the U.S. for the Cardinals since their last game in Montreal on May 9, 2004. They have played nine games in Toronto since then, the last in 2014.
Looking ahead: Miles Mikolas will get the start on Sunday in the second game of the Mexico series before the Cardinals head to Milwaukee for a three-game series beginning on Monday night.
