The Cincinnati Reds had to play from behind early, but after the Cardinals scored a run in the top of the 1st inning their bats went silent. The Reds were able to scrape together single runs in three different innings in the middle of the game and the pitching took care of the rest as they defeated the Cardinals 3-1 to open up their 4-game series.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. Louis Cardinals (12-17) | 8 | 13 | 0 |
| Cincinnati Reds (16-13) | 7 | 10 | 2 |
| W: Martinez (1-3) L: Pallante (2-2) SV: Pagan (8) | |||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
Nick Martinez hasn’t been nearly as good in 2025 as he had been in 2024. And after the St. Louis Cardinals had two doubles that led to a run in the top of the 1st inning things may have been hitting that “uh oh, here we go again” stage for some on-lookers. But Martinez settled in after Nolan Arenado’s RBI double and kept the Cardinals off the board in both the 2nd and 3rd innings.
Jose Trevino led off the bottom of the 3rd inning with a game-tying home run. And inning later the Reds would take the lead when Gavin Lux singled and came around to score on a triple into left-center.
St. Louis didn’t just roll over. In the top of the 5th inning they would get a leadoff double from Pedro Pages and then Victor Scott drew a walk to put two men on with no outs in the 1-run ballgame. That’s when Masyn Winn laid down a bunt, but Jose Trevino made an outstanding play to field in and fire to third on the run to get the lead runner. Lars Nootbar absolutely got into the ball, but his hard grounder at 105 MPH off the bat was snagged on one hop by Matt McLain who spun and threw to second where Elly De La Cruz caught it, stepped on the base and fired to first to complete a double play to end the threat and the inning.
Cincinnati tacked on a run in the bottom of the 6th inning with a little help from the Cardinals starter Andre Pallante. He issued a 1-out walk to Austin Hays and it turned out to be one of those walks that haunts because the next pitch saw Gavin Lux send a double the other way and Hays score from first base to make it 3-1.
Nick Martinez turned the game over to the bullpen to begin the 7th inning as he completed his best outing of the year. The relievers picked up where he left off. Graham Ashcraft struck out the side in a perfect 7th. Tony Santillan picked up a strikeout in a perfect 8th inning. And then Emilio Pagan threw a perfect 9th inning to pick up his 8th save of the season and extend the Reds winning streak to five games.
Key Moment of the Game
The Reds defense in the 5th inning. It started with Jose Trevino’s play on the attempted sacrifice bunt to get the lead runner at third and it finished with Matt McLain’s highlight reel double play to end the inning.
Notes Worth Noting
Elly De La Cruz extended his hitting streak to 12 games and his on-base streak to 17 games.
Gavin Lux also extended his hitting streak to 12 games and his on-base streak sits at 13 games. He’s hitting .352/.438/.473 this season through 27 games.
Noelvi Marte had a hit and two walks. Through his first 13 games with the Reds this season he’s hitting .370/.431/.696 with five walks and just six strikeouts.
Reds hitters walked four times and only struck out four times in the game. Reds pitchers only walked two batters and had seven strikeouts.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
St. Louis Cardinals vs Cincinnati Reds
Tuesday, April 29, 6:40pm ET
Brady Singer (4-0, 3.62 ERA) vs Miles Mikolas (0-2, 5.70 ERA)
Had to step away from the game in the 7th inning! Was the double play involving McLain a TOOTBLAN on his part?
Outstanding effort from Nick Martinez as well as Lux among others!
If Gavin Lux keeps performing the way he has the Reds are going to have to pay a LUXury tax!
@DW – It was Dunn getting doubled-up going back into 1st base after a liner to shallow RF.
Great job by the back end of the bullpen! A Red leads the NL in BA!
Let’s try to make it 6 tomorrow! Go Reds!
Good team win – starting pitching, relievers, enough offense and plenty of defense. And extra satisfying to take down the Cardinals. Don’t give up on Nick Martinez. He’s a veteran guy still with good stuff. He’s going to matter this year in the long run to 162 (and more). Noelvi Marte is an unexpected surprise, but it’s quite possible he’s just good at baseball. If 2024 was the outlier, he could be so much fun. And all this without McLain’s bat, and without EDLC in peak performance mode. I’m enjoying this 13-7 run since a slow start. Go Reds!
Workmanlike effort! Spray charts may work against Lux at some point, but then he can turn on some balls. Glad to be wrong about my early opinions on him
I’ll be the Negative Nellie. “The Reds went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position.” Hopefully, this stat changes. We had numerous opportunities to blow the game open.
The Reds are among the NL leaders in BA with RISP so far in 2025. Last night was an exception.
Good to know. Thx, OT.
Yes, going into last night, I believe they were the best in that category.
i would hate to see your comments when the Reds lose!!! enjoy a win man
Nah, it’s not like that with me. Just picked up on a lot of missed opportunities in that particular game. Win being enjoyed.
The Reds now 3 over .500 early with a fairly weak schedule for ahead. I’m not sure they are a playoff team, but the best I think you can hope for is staying around or above .500 and then in September you have a chance. The schedule seems to get a little tougher in June overall from what I’m seeing. Keep building the momentum early.
Lux, Hays, and Trevino appear to be great moves by Krall so far. Hopefully they stay healthy.
Kind of heldmy breath when Hays scored from first and was obviouslt running max effort. With his past calf issues was relieved he didn’t come up limping.
Hes not in the lineup today
Hopefully a planned rest day with 2 lefties coming up
Apparently he did indeed pull his hamstring. He’s having it looked at. It was his fastest sprint speed in a couple of years too.
Outstanding pitching tonight. Martinez looking better. And the bullpen was lights out. Ashcraft and Santillán looked awfully good out there. Francona has done a fantastic job managing the arms. What a wonderful manager. Nice to see the way he handles the players.
Lux just continues to impress me. And Hayes has been incredible. Would have liked to seen better execution with runners on base but delighted with the win. Great to see McLain with a hit. Going to be super interesting to watch once all these bats heat up.
Trevino has looked fabulous. He handles the staff well and has raked at the plate. Kudos to Krall with the moves he made.
You saw great execution with runners on base. It just so happened to be by the Cardinals pitching. Reds pitching also had great execution with Cardinal runners on base.
Yes, great win for the Reds in game one at home against the Cardinals. Can you fix the score in the box at the top? It shows the Cardinals winning 8-7. A relic no doubt from the Reds first win against the Rockies. No reason to be muted in our enthusiasm for the Reds as they put together a nice win streak… winning can be contagious.
That box score threw me for a sec. I took a nap and missed the game…read the top…saw the box… head scratcher.
Shades of Barry Larkin with Marte’s approach at the plate. Going the other way with outside pitches and driving inside pitches into the left/ center gap. He has been fun to watch.
Solid win.
Huge win really because Pallante has been veey hard to defeat by the Reds especially at GABP and the matchup against Martinez looked favorable to the Cards. Defense and really nasty bullpen lead the win.
Lux’s BABIP is more than .450 that is unsustainable but hopefully the regression could be slow…
The box score showing STL ahead 8-7 is a concerning kind of jinx , don’t do it please …LOl
Playing well. If I remember correctly, Martinez got off to a slow start last year, too.
You remember correctly. Slow start as a starter. Went to BP and was excellent. Came back as a starter later in the season and was lights out.
Martinez is lucky Lowder, and Miley haven’t been ready to go, or they could have already put him in the pen. It looks like he’s hitting his stride now, so I wouldn’t think he’s at risk of being put into the pen anymore.
I like having the two veterans Martinez and Singer to go alongside the younger pitchers.
I was hoping the Reds would pick up Quintana as well, and he’s doing awesome so far. 4 games 23.66 IP, 1.14 ERA good for a .364 ERA+. He was one of the last starters on the market and signed for $4M.
I’m not sure Miley should be considered in Top 5 replacement options for the Reds . I’m going with Wynne, Petty, Burns, Acuna, a healthy
Lowder or Ashcraft before Miley gets a sniff.
If Miley’s surgery was successful, and he’s healthy, he is a starter.
2021 139 ERA+
2022 133 ERA+ (injured short season)
2023 137 ERA+
2024 7 IP
If he pitched 30 innings or more in a season, he’s been good. You have to go back to 2017 for him to have a season where he wasn’t clearly an above average starter.
Now does this surgery get him back to his 2023 form or not, that’s a fair question.
Martinez’s average against third time through the lineup is over .400. Love the guy, but would like to see him slide back to the pen if and when one of the above guys is ready. He definitely benefited from some great D tonight.
Ashcraft looks like he’s found a home. Sooo nasty with that slider tonight. Santillan looks great. Pagan for the most part. Could use one more tough lefty back there.
Miley has been 1 injury after another since he left the Reds.
He’s most likely 8 or 9 on the pitching depth chart.
9, 23, 2, 0 starts 2022-2025.
If they are down to him and need him to make starts, they are in deep trouble.
@VA, a bit selective way of looking it. Including 2025 which is a month young isn’t very fair. He isn’t a spring chicken, but when healthy he’s been very good since 2017.
Beating the Cards, especially with the Cubs off, is the kind of opportunity that the Reds frequently failed to capitalize on over the last several years. If they can keep that up, compete more effectively against their own division, then they could be competitive later this year. We’ll see. Another promising change is that their defensive efficiency has gone from 14th last year, to 1st this year. And finally, a manager that holds players accountable and will bench them when they aren’t playing well AND more importantly explains that to both the player and the fans is a really nice change. Just the fact that Tito tells the truth about player injuries is a big improvement.
That is how important McLain is. This team revolves around him. It just clicks when he is in the lineup. 5th inning dp was the ballgame.
I like India, but he couldn’t be the defender that McLain is
Solid team win and a stellar performance from Lux. Martinez had a solid outing with a bunch of help on defense from the boyz.
Let’s focus on tonight and keep it rolling.
Re: Candalario.
Fox Sports blog, I believe it was, opines that Castellini will not eat Candy’s salary because Bob is cheap. But I would ask, how much income does a trip to the playoffs put in an owner’s pocket, even if it is a three and out series?
It seems to me that these writers look at one singular aspect, Candy’s salary, rather than a bigger picture. Of course, Candy could reverse course and begin to hit much like Joey Votto did in his best season of his last 3 or 4, or Candy could continue to slump and three catchers would be an offensive improvement, as well a defensive improvement. If the Reds without Candy make the playoffs and the Reds with Candy do not make the playoffs, then big C would be eating $32MM over the next two years, but how much would he be gaining in income with a playoff appearance? Assuming the first 29 games to be a glimpse of what this staff can do, just getting into the playoffs would seem to be a huge bonanza, but having the staff to get deeper into the playoffs might make Candy’s salary a relative chump change loss.
Just posing the question as a hypothetical since I have no idea about these playoff high finance numbers, but one that certainly has possibilities as this young team continues to mature. A recent article about Tito-Candy talks, and that Candy is recently ‘gathering more pine splinters’ than hits, puts Candy in a precarious position, it would seem to me. I suspect Bob might be willing to take short term loss for a longer term bigger gain. Then again, might not.
I dont see the pros of cutting him outweighing the pros to just benching him. Who’s roster spot will he be taking, CES? He probably needs time in the minors and he has options. I like the way their handling it as long as he doesnt become a cancer in the locker room.
I was not a fan of the Candelario signing,
But he is under contract until next year. There is no value in cutting him at this point. The roster will work itself out, someone (McLain?) will be on the IL soon and that will allow the Reds some roster flexibility.
I am OK with letting Candy ride the bench and DH a couple times a week. However, he is not going to increase his value on the bench. I would make him the DH and bat him 8th or 9th and hope he turns things around. Fortunately, the Reds offense is doing so well they can afford having a weak link in the line up.
I wasn’t a fan of the signing either. He was more or less a league average player with a couple of good recent years. Nonetheless, the Reds lack the infield depth to cut him, as I noted in the last week or two. McLain isn’t hitting. Steer may be coming around, too soon to buy into that. CES is unproven and injured. Lux seems solid but he’s on an unsustainable streak. And pulling Lux and Steer fulltime into the IF reveals the lack of OF depth. Calling up Benson and Hines to fill the holes? Money aside, unless there’s a trade to move Candelario, I think they need to hold on to him until the roster firms up a bit. Do I expect much from him? Not really, maybe another 3-4 week streak that hopefully comes a time when others are slumping.
And speaking of McLain, he really should have negotiated this off season. On any reasonable contract offer, a young player is usually better off with money in hand now than waiting for the big FA splash 4-5 years down the road. Future risk is astronomical for even the best young players. That includes EDLC, who needs a new agent and experienced guidance from someone looking out for him. That isn’t Boras. Hunter Greene and his team made the right move as did Bobby Witt and others.
If Benson were a RH bat, I’d guess he’d already be back up in the majors. Havent kept up with Hinds. I wonder if Steer is willing to go back into the OF when he’s able.
Re: “I wonder if Steer is willing to go back into the OF when he’s able.”
That’s probably ready to happen here pretty soon I would think. From Sheldon on mlb.com on 4/23:
“Steer is one of Cincinnati’s most versatile fielders with the ability to play five positions. He has also been working on throws from the outfield with designs of getting into games there at some point.
“I wouldn’t want to put a timeline on it. I think it will be soon,” Steer said. “I think I add value being a guy who can play multiple positions and give the lineup and team some flexibility late in the game if I need to move around. That’s what I’ve always done and what I like to do. It was a little tougher for me to just DH.””
Good one, LDS.
The Reds have options at AAA aside from Hinds and Benson.
Tyler Callihan is a 24 year old infielder who was the #85 pick overall in the 2019 draft. Callihan is on the 40 man roster. He has played almost exclusively at 2b with the Bats this season. He is a LH batter. His triple slash line is currently .303/.410/.528 (.938 OPS) in 106PAs this season. Callihan was elevated to AAA for the final week of 2024. His cumulative AAA triple slash is 311/.432/.553 (.985 OPS) in 126 PAs.
https://www.milb.com/player/tyler-callihan-682997
Ivan Johnson is a 26 year old who was the #114 overall choice in the same draft as Callihan. Curiously, while Johnson is listed on the Louisville website roster page as a 2b, he has played corner OF (mostly LF) and DH this year. He is a switch hitter. Johnson is NOT on the 40 man roster. Johnson’s current triple slash is .309/.413/.500 (.913 OPS) in 80PAs this year. Johnson was elevated to AAA at the end of July 2024. His cumulative AAA triple slash is .295/.377/.525 (.902 OPS) in 247PAs.
https://www.milb.com/player/ivan-johnson-671155
True, but unproven and maybe no better than Candelario, Benson, or Hinds at the ML level. Maybe it’s worth finding out. I can’t really see that happening with the Reds FO. As long as they aren’t leaning on Francona to play Candelario, I’m okay with holding on to him a bit longer and maybe the Reds get a few weeks of productivity. Of course, if they can find anyone that’ll trade for him and eat the salary, more power to Krall and company. Don’t think it’ll happen but you never know.
Nothing quite like a win over the Cardinals with two of baseballs oldest teams. Before the National League was founded there was the Cincinnati Red Stockings and the St. Louis Brown Stockings who were both members of the American Association which was then considered major league. When the N.L. was founded in the 1880’s, the Brown Stockings became the Cardinals. In 1901 the American League was founded and the Milwaukee franchise went to St. Louis and became the Browns. They played there for 50 plus years and then became the Baltimore Orioles in 1953. Baseball history can get a little complicated.
Where are all the Marte haters lately? I commented in the offseason he was just 22 and a top 50 prospect….can’t just cut bait on a guy like that. Player development isn’t perfectly linear.
This is just a different offense with the subtractions of Candy and CES. Man, in the span of just 2 weeks they’ve likely gone from starters to nothing more than depth insurance. Kinda stunning when you think about it. I’d like to see CES optioned so he can work out his plate discipline issues and an IL stint for Candy so he too can ‘rehab’ at Louisville.
I am not a Marte fan, but it has nothing to do with talent, it had everything do with him using PEDs. It was a selfish decision that hurt the team. I’m glad he is doing well now, but sorry still not a fan.
Is there any further news about his use of PEDs? Understand it’s a strict liability standard regardless of circumstances, but there’s a big difference between, say, the Bonds episode, and a single issue/injury recovery/local trainer story.
I don’t recall any reporting on where and why Marte was suspended beyond the initial announcement.
FWIW I’m a big fan but understood the critique when he was traded – the Ms rumors were that he was advanced for his age and may plateau as a AAAA/Siri-Barrero type. Good for him if he works beyond that.
I, too, wasn’t a fan of his decision for the same reasons you cited. One the other hand, everyone deserves a second chance, a chance at correction, right?
Also, I think he came back and didn’t apologize or accept responsibility for what he did. Then the manager played him every day right away and kept him in the lineup despite his attitude and struggles.
Votto4life; my understanding is that he was not juicing like Bonds or McGuire but that he took a supplement to aid his rehab. I just had rotator cuff and a hip replacement in the past 6 months. I get how hard it is to read medications, want to speed recovery and all. I was prescribed PLP. Run that through a translator. As a wrestler in high school, I once used DMSO as recommended by someone. I forgot who, neighbor, family member. My dad was a construction worker and many of his workmates were also farmers so maybe it came from them.
Yes an agent professional trainer should have advised on the supplement. But I do not necessarily think he was selfish as he seems like a good kid from reports and he said he was surprised by the test picking up this substance, not understanding it was there.
Most people here didn’t want to cut bait on the guy. They wanted him to start in AAA and figure things out. Whether it was his attitude, or physical approach and adjustment on the field.
Charlie Goldsmith did a deep dive on Marte with quotes from Espinal/Benavides/ and Tito. One of my favorites is from Tito. Marte was sent early in spring training to the minor league camp.
“We were really honest with him. We told him we wanted him to earn it, but we also told him we were pulling for him. he wasn’t in the penalty box. Theres nothing wrong with earning it.”
Francona also wanted him to stay through the ball more and hit it the other way. In Baltimore, Mike Napoli really worked with him a lot on an adjustment with his follow through as well.
If Marte can graduate to MLB as a good hitting third baseman, that is the story of the year so far. That relegates the Candy scenario to irrelevance. If Marte gives you good production at 3b for minimum wage, its a win-win
Good stuff. Always appreciate your perspective. Thanks,
I do, too.
Much better approach with Marte than last year’s baffoonery of just promoting him to the big leagues after a drug suspension and acting like it never happened…he obviously should have gone to Louisville first.
Don’t agree that Candelario will ever be irrelevant…that’s 45 million that could have been used to extend one of the good young players on the team. Reds aren’t exactly flush with cash to throw in the garbage on garbage players…I am thrilled that we now have a manager with the back bone to bench and unproductive high paid player and even straight up tell him you’re at bats are terrible and we are going with someone else. Bell NEVER would have made the move. It’s puts the whole team on notice. Be professional or don’t play.
it’s only a win win if candy is gone, otherwise it’s just a win
I meant to say candy is dead money and water under the bridge and in another 50 games or so half way through his contract. Relitigating that contract from winter of 2023-24 in mid spring of 2025 on a winning streak seems to be a daily fixation for some.
Win #1 is Marte is showing life as a good long term 3b who has been a huge contributor to this 13-6 run the last 3 weeks and projects as a potential foundational piece to this team and offense
Win #2 is he costs the MLB minimum
Good to see different players stepping up to be the hero.
The most encouraging signs that indicate the Reds can remain competitive in the NLC are 1. quality & depth of starting pitching, 2. improved quality & depth of middle line-up. There are always spots to shore-up/substitute, but the core of each is strong. I do like the manager too – he’s a gamer!
anybody else like to see Abbott between Martinez and Singer, not sure how they would switch, but it seems giving a different starting look between them with Abbott might keep hitters of what seems like similiar stuff between Martinez and Singer.
I know we have good RISP numbers. But it sure feels like we have almost no sacrifice flies or ground outs to score a guy from 3rd, and we almost never get a guy from 2nd to 3rd and then in with ground outs to the right side. Maybe the statistics say something different, but it sure FEELS that way. We’re scoring runs, which is what counts, but come playoff time I hope it doesn’t come back to bite us.
That’s precisely what I was saying above, ER.
@Eric, I don’t know how to easily validate or invalidate your specific assertions. However, the Red’s run scoring percentage (the percent that a baserunner scores) is 36 percent, which is third best in MLB and six percentage points above league average. So, however they are doing it, at this point they are certainly one of the better teams at scoring once they reach base.
Thats just pro sports today. Guys get right to the rim and kick it out for a 25 footer.
Nobody bunts the ghost runner over to start the 10th or moves runners along consistently. The players run the show now for the most part and the manager is the high school guidance counselor everyone ignores. Friedl doesn’t even bunt anymore?
I think we all tend to feel that way. But my assumption is if you asked another fan base, they’d say the same thing about their team. It can come from being overly familiar and not having enough context of what it looks like across the board. Watch a new team for 3 weeks straight and see what happens, I suppose.
Any weather updates? Im thinking of heading to the game tonight. Here in east central Indiana it is clearing up.
Tonight’s lineup is out. Hays is getting a day off with Espinal playing LF. Wynns starts at catcher.
Hays is getting an MRI of his hamstring unfortunately
“The Reds surprised a lot of people this offseason when they hired veteran manager Terry Francona to be their manager. So far, he has lived up to the expectations in just about every way.” That’s not exactly what I was hearing when we were 3-7 and the Game 1 Gibaut debacle was still front and center. lol
Austin Hays status switched to day to day.
I may be a bit oxygen deprived, but I was wondering whether I’m the only guy considering Singer’s Cy Young chances. I’m just saying…If you told me Singer would possibly be 5-0 at the end of April before the season started, I’d say you were nuts. Yet, we could see that. As awesome as Hayes, Trevino, Lux et al have been, I think Singer is the real difference maker…if it were any individual player.
You’re probably the only one. He’s been a useful addition, but he’s not the best starter on the team let alone the league.
Rick Porcello in 2016 went 22-4 and won the AL Cy Young Award, despite being 8th among AL pitchers in bWAR, which Justin Verlander won by a fair margin. Porcello was a close second to Verlander in WHIP, though.
There was some bite-back about the CYA that year among the analytics purists back then, and there they would all downplay a guy like Singer going 22-4 even more now.
I don’t sneer at “Wins” as a stat for starting pitchers like some do. If an innings-eating pitcher goes 22-4, then he’s done a ton of things right in the season. If nothing else, that pitcher probably has regularly gone at least 6 innings. That saves the team’s bullpen for other games. Meanwhile, the Win-Scoffers laud Blake “Five Inning” Snell, whose efforts do not save the bullpen for other games. Snell may have better “fielding-independent” stats, but ultimately an inning that he doesn’t pitch is absorbed by an iffy middle-reliever, either in Snell’s start or by having the early reliever not available for a future game. No player’s contribution over the season, and especially not a starting pitcher throwing 5 innings, is “teammate-independent.”
Singer is the Reds’ 3rd starter, behind Greene and Lodolo. If he goes 22-4, both he and the Reds will have had a season to celebrate, Cy Young or not.