Tuesday’s Game Report: Cardinals 3, Reds 0
By Rob Rains
Having lost six of their previous seven games, the Cardinals needed a strong start out of Michael McGreevy on Tuesday night and that was exactly what they got.
McGreevy shut out the Reds on three hits over seven innings and Thomas Saggese hit a two-run homer in the win at Busch Stadium.
A leadoff walk and a single put McGreevy in trouble in the second inning but a double play got him out of the jam and he cruised after that, hampering the Reds hopes of trying to chase down the Mets for the third wild-card spot in the National League.
Since he moved into the regular rotation on July 21, McGreevy has gone 6-2 with three no-decisions. This was the first start in which he worked seven scoreless innings.
Here is how Tuesday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: McGreevy was staked to a 1-0 lead in the first thanks to a leadoff double by Brendan Donovan, a single by Ivan Herrera and a sacrifice fly from Nolan Arenado … Saggese increased the lead to 3-0 with his two-run homer in the third. Alec Burleson singled with two outs before Saggese lined his second homer of the season into the Reds’ bullpen … The Cardinals only had two hits after the Saggese homer, the last another two-out single by Burleson in the fifth.
On the mound: The only hits allowed by McGreevy after the second inning were a two-out double in the third and a leadoff single in the fifth, in front of another double play. McGreevy walked three and struck out six, with five of the six strikeouts coming in the sixth and seventh innings … JoJo Romero retired the side in order with two strikeouts in the eighth and Riley O’Brien earned the save with a 1-2-3 ninth.
Key stat: Given a chance at regular playing time, first because of the injury to Donovan and now because of Masyn Winn’s knee soreness, Saggese raised his average since Aug. 3 to .281 (39-of-139) in his last 39 games.
Worth noting: Willson Contreras did not play because of a right biceps strain. He also is not scheduled to play on Wednesday and the Cardinals said they will re-evaluate his status after the day off on Thursday … The Double A Springfield Cardinals got six shutout innings from Ixen Henderson and won game one of their Texas League playoffs 3-1 over Tulsa. Game two of the best-of-three series will be Thursday night in Springfield.
Up next: Andre Pallante will get the start on Wednesday in the finale of the three-game series. First pitch is scheduled for 12:15 p.m.
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