Wednesday Game Report: Reds 10, Cardinals 3
By Rob Rains
It was another rough start for Steven Matz and the Cardinals on Wednesday night.
Matz allowed four hits after walking the leadoff hitter that led to four first-inning runs and the Reds went on to beat the Cardinals in Cincinnati.
Matz has struggled in the first inning all season, allowing a combined total of 12 runs in that inning in his 10 starts.
Matz fell to 0-6 on the season and the Cardinals have won only two of his 10 starts.
Here is how Wednesday’s game broke down:
At the plate: The Cardinals trailed 5-0 before scoring their first run came on a home run by Brendan Donovan leading off the fourth … Lars Nootbaar also had a leadoff home run in the fifth inning and then drove in his second run of the game on an infield single in the ninth inning … Nolan Gorman had a single in four at-bats to extend his hitting streak to 15 games … The two home runs increased the Cardinals total for the month of May to 40, just five less than the franchise record set for the month in 2000. They have six games left on the schedule for this month.
On the mound: Matz allowed two more runs after the first inning in his four innings of work. He now has a 5.72 ERA for the season … The Reds added two runs off Chris Stratton and two more off Genesis Cabrera.
Key stat: The Cardinals’ starters have now allowed a combined total of 34 runs in the first inning of their 51 games, an ERA of 6.00.
Worth noting: Matz has allowed the most first-inning runs of any of the Cardinals’ starters. The second starter who has allowed the most runs is Miles Mikolas with eight in his 10 starts … Matz has won only one of his last 15 starts for the Cardinals dating back to last year … The Cardinals have had only one starter get through at least six innings in their last nine games.
Looking ahead: The four-game series will wrap up with a day game on Thursday. Mikolas is the scheduled starter.
Follow Rob Rains on Twitter @RobRains
