| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
|  Cincinnati Reds (61-64) | 5 | 8 | 0 |
|   St. Louis Cardinals (67-57) | 6 | 13 | 1 |
|  W: Greenwood (1-2)    L: Ondrusek (3-3) | |||
|  FanGraphs Win Probability |   The Worldwide Leader’s Box Score  |   Game Photos | |||
A day after the Reds’ bullpen suffered a historic, catastrophic doubleheader breakdown, Jumbo Diaz grooved a fastball that A.J. Pierzynski lined into center field that broke a 4-4 tie in the bottom of the eighth.
Logan Ondrusek, fresh off the disabled list, didn’t waste any time fitting in with his bullpen colleagues. After getting two strikes on Matt Holiday, he overthrew two pitches way out of the strike zone then gave Holiday a fat pitch that the left fielder lined for a single. Matt Adams and Jhonny Peralta followed with hits and the game was over. Ondrusek didn’t retire a single hitter. Welcome back, Logan.
The offense showed up again tonight. Jay Bruce slammed his fourteenth home run in the fifth inning scoring Mike Leake and Zack Cozart. It put the Reds ahead 4-3. The blast was Bruce’s fourth home run in August. Jeff Brantley had just mentioned that Justin Masterson’s fastball velocity was down right before Bruce drilled a 87-mph heater into the right field bleachers.
The Reds rallied in the ninth inning for a run off the Cardinals closer Trevor Rosenthal. After Chris Heisey struck out, Billy Hamilton drew a *walk* and stole second. A.J. Pierzynski showed that he isn’t Yadier Molina, throwing the ball into center field allowing Hamilton to reach third. On a 1-2 pitch, Jay Bruce lined a double down the right field line, tying the game. Bruce has nine RBI in the past four games.
Before Bruce’s homer, Zack Cozart had followed Brayan Peña double with a double of his own, driving in the Reds first baseman. The four-run inning was made possible in part because the Reds didn’t sacrifice an out by having Leake bunt. Bryan Price was rewarded for playing for a big inning.
Todd Frazier, nursing a sore back, had two singles and just missed a go-ahead extra-base hit in the top of the ninth when John Jay made a running catch on Frazier’s line drive in right center.
Billy Hamilton made another superb defensive play in the bottom of the seventh, robbing Kolten Wong of an extra-base hit and the go-ahead RBI. Hamilton sped directly back toward the centerfield fence to catch Wong’s line drive on a dead sprint.