The final score of the game doesn’t tell you much about how the game played out. The Cardinals took a 1-0 lead in the top of the 1st inning and then both offenses struggled to do much of anything for the next two hours. Cincinnati’s offense never got anything going as they finished with just three hits, but they were in the game until the 9th. But that’s when Alexis Diaz imploded and gave up five runs as St. Louis ended the Reds winning streak with a 6-0 victory in game one of Wednesday’s doubleheader.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. Louis Cardinals (13-17) | 6 | 7 | 0 |
| Cincinnati Reds (16-14) | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| W: Mikolas (1-2) L: Singer (4-1) | |||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
St. Louis didn’t waste much time getting on the board in game one of today’s doubleheader. Masyn Winn hit the third pitch of the game into the first row of the upper deck to put the Cardinals up 1-0.
After that there wasn’t much going on for a bit. Elly De La Cruz was hit by a pitch in the 4th inning and stole second base to get into scoring position, but he wasn’t able to advance beyond there.
In the 6th inning the game was still 1-0. TJ Friedl led off with a single. With one out, Elly De La Cruz hit a hard grounder up the middle where Masyn Winn fielded it and tried to race to second, but couldn’t beat Friedl to the bag and then fired to first where the call on the field was out. Cincinnati challenged the play and it was overturned as De La Cruz beat the throw for what later was ruled a fielders choice. Gavin Lux followed with a fly out that advanced Friedl to third, and then De La Cruz took second on another stolen base, but they would both be stranded on the bases when Noelvi Marte grounded out to second.
After 6.0 strong inning of 2-hit, 1-run baseball by Brady Singer, the Reds turned the game over to the bullpen and brought in Taylor Rogers. He issued a 1-out walk to Nolan Gorman and then a single by Yohel Pozo to move Gorman up to second. A second walk in the inning followed to load the bases and that drew a mound visit from pitching coach Derek Johnson. What he said may or may not have worked, but the next pitch did work out as Lars Nootbaar lined out to Matt McLain, who then fired to first base to double off Victor Scott II to end the inning and keep the score 1-0.
That’s where the score stood heading to the 9th inning, but that’s when things went sideways for the Reds. Alexis Diaz was called on to pitch to bottom half of the order. He would hit the first batter before getting two outs. A single followed and then Diaz hung a slider and Victor Scott II put it into the seats for a 3-run home run that made it 4-0. Lars Nootbaar followed up with a home run of his own, leading to a showering of boos from the fans in attendance. It wasn’t over there – Masyn Winn also trotted around the bases at a leisurely pace after making it three home runs in a row for the Cardinals. The home run streak ended there, but only because Diaz issued a walk. A ground out would end the inning, but what was a 1-run game became a 6-run game.
Cincinnati would get a walk from Gavin Lux in the bottom of the 9th inning, but he was stranded on second base to end the game. The Reds winning streak is over. They’ll have a chance to avoid a losing streak later tonight when they take the field at 6:40pm ET for the second part of today’s doubleheader.
Key Moment of the Game
Alexis Diaz giving up three straight home runs in the 9th inning.
Notes Worth Noting
The loss by Cincinnati put an end to their 5-game winning streak.
Elly De La Cruz extended his hitting streak to 13 games and his on-base streak to 18 games. He’s tied his career best hit streak and has a chance to set a new career high later tonight.
Reds batters had more walks than strikeouts during the game but couldn’t take advantage of it.
The back-to-back-to-back home runs given up by Alexis Diaz in the 9th inning was the first time he’s ever given up more than one home run in a game since reaching the big leagues.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
St. Louis Cardinals vs Cincinnati Reds
Wednesday, April 30, 6:40pm ET
Steven Matz (2-0, 1.80 ERA) vs Chase Petty (MLB Debut)
well, for once i am glad i had to work today
Was a good game pitching wise until the 9th. Singer continues to do a nice job with a quality start. Hitting was pretty absent from the game though.
Until the Card homer offensive in the 9th., each team had 3 hits.
Well looks like Diaz just earned himself a trip back to the minors. His slider was very flat watching the game. He did throw strikes, but they tended to be down the middle of the plate a little too much. I really don’t understand what has happed to this guy the past year or so. Really liked him when he first came up with the Reds.
Diaz has been on a steady, linear decline since he first burst on the scene in 2022.
He was phenomenal in 2022, really good in 2023, mediocre in 2024, and now looks like he’s inching towards “bad” in 2025.
I advocated for trading him in both of the past two off-seasons. After his All-Star game appearance in 2023, he was never quite the same. But still, he was an “All-Star closer”. It would have been the right time to capitalize on his value.
Now, I don’t think many teams would give up much for him.
Another missed opportunity of the Reds holding onto their assets for too long.
Hey if anything, the MLB draft board 2025 by MLB.com is full of shortstops and pitchers. Of the top 18 (we draft 9th) all of them are SS or pitchers but one (Texas A&M outfielder). That’ll get our draft director to start salivating.
he is not the same pitcher. overthrowing to get velo? injury? or just need a change of scenery? He is not the reason we lost. But, he could have been.
If he’s overthrowing to get velocity it’s having the opposite effect because his velocity is down quite a bit over the last 18 months.
you can overthrow and lose velocity, it is because your pitching mechanics get out of whack. Overthrowing does not mean increase in velocity, a lot of times it causes reduction in velocity.
no but he could have been the reason we didn’t win
With Petty going against Matz tonight, the Reds could quite easily drop this doubleheader.
So, Diaz is NOT ready to close? Huh, what about that?
Remember….Reds have no room for error if they are going to compete for a playoff spot. They probably could have been down 1-0 the bottom of the 9th, if they had gone with another pitcher. A Diaz can’t be trusted in high leverage at this time. Maybe if and its a big IF with these Reds, if they are leading something like 9-1, late in the game, you could put him in.
I certainly hope our bats haven’t hit the deep freeze again aleady. Hays is out and we revert to this? Say it isn’t so. (I know – one game isn’t enough to tell, but I’ll be watching closely in Game 2.)
Singer had been the beneficiary of good run support his first several starts, so he was due for an outing like this. Still, he has been solid for us, making India-for-Singer look like a steal of a deal so far.
I’m not sure what “an outing like this” means. Singer was terrific. 6 innings of two hit, one run baseball? I’ll take that every time. Hard luck loss (pitcher W-L is pretty stupid at times) but he continues to pitch really well.
I think it means “an outing where he got absolutely no run support and got the loss despite pitching very well”
What definition of what a win is should be redefined by baseball. The guy gave up 1 run in 6 innings. Yes, quality start is a nice stat, but maybe it is time to get rid of wins and losses for pitchers because it doesn’t really mean a whole lot at this point.
Reds first 10 games 3-7
Second 10 games 7-3
Third 10 games 6-4
Let’s make the next 10 games even better.
Yes.
Diaz’s stats (box score style) for the season now:
6 8 8 8 5 3 …. plus 2 HBP … plus 4 HR
12.00 ERA, 2.167 WHIP
Do you send him down? I mean… that’s unplayable.
You don’t see a whip in the 2’s very much now do ya?
I said this in the game thread, but of the 33 pitches Diaz threw, only 1 (a slider) was on the left hand side of the plate or inside to a left hander. Being able to sit in one location is way to easy for a major league hitter. He needs to be in AAA and for a while to make mechanical adjustments and help his confidence.
Agree with this. Not reason we lost the game but certainly won’t give us a chance to win if he can’t pitch better than that.
And I’m glad they let him “wear it” with 34 pitches instead of bailing him out and wearing out the bullpen even more.
Just demote him. Don’t come up with a phantom injury.
The best thing that happened to the Reds this year was Diaz getting hurt in Spring Training otherwise we probably would have started the season with him as our closer again. RLN has known for over a year that he wasn’t the guy anymore but the FO has been thinking differently about him. He was throwing 97-98 regularly when he first became the closer but in the last year and a half he has dropped down in the 93-94 range. For someone his age you would think that he was dealing with an injury but there hasn’t been anything mentioned other than his hamstring problem this Spring. The opposition can steal bases at will with him on the mound which he isn’t even attempting to improve. He should never get anywhere near the closer role again without some major improvements. I’m not totally sold on Pagan closing either but so far he is doing a pretty good job. What is with the Reds and scoring in day games? It seems like their offense struggles to score any runs in day games. Not just this year either I’m talking about the last several years.
Went to the game today. Great afternoon for baseball.
Until Alexis “Batting Practice” Diaz.
They must, must cut him loose.
Lack of velocity,slider is flat and can’t throw strikes is not the Diaz of old.Didn’t just happen yesterday.Its been going down hill for quite some time and well it probably hit rock bottom today.Not sure at all if he should pitch in any high leverage situation right now in the big leagues.Good time to see Mey up here and send Diaz down and see if he can right the ship.Hate it for him but you can’t handicap the team by using him and for my money you don’t keep a pitcher that only pitches in blow out games when there are others who are better.
1000% agree
Hays’ abscence choked the offense.
Lookin, good, Diaz. I’ve been screaming from my soapbox to trade this dude for a year and half while he had some value, but I’ve been told here by some that he’s still got it. He’s a good reliever who just needs to find it again. Yeah, no. I dont think he has the mindset to fix all the things that need fixin’.
@Klugo, I’ve been told the same on here too. Someone keeps talking about his save % from last year. Almost all of his saves last year were with a 2 or 3 run lead and he would give up runs and still get the save. He has not been right since after the all-star break in 23. If Candelario can be held accountable then so should Diaz. He needs to be sent to Louisville or dfa. Truth hurts sometimes.
Diaz to Louisville. Moll still doesn’t look to be right and continues rehab assignment. Lowder to 60 day IL as he doesn’t look ready to return until the end of May at the earliest. If not, Spiers to 60 day IL as it was stated that he would be shut down for 5-6 weeks. Maxwell contract selected to fill 40 man spot and promoted to take over spot left by Diaz. No DFA necessary at this point. Stephenson should push Callihan back to Louisville sometime soon.
Diaz to Louisville?
I’m not sure the Louisville Leopards high school team is desperate enough to take on Diaz.
I am pretty sure that Mey or Maxwell could do a much better job than Diaz right now.
And Maxwell just gave up a walk-off grand slam. No outs recorded, three hits, two walks, five earned. His ERA sits at 6.94, he’s allowed 13 hits and walked eight in 11.2 innings while striking out just 10.
Went back and checked his velocity according to ESPN and he threw 17 four seamers and 4 were at 94 mph with most at 92 /93 and one of them was hit out.The other two homers were on sliders.Now that just leaves him with no where to go unless he can pin point his pitches but he hasn’t been able to do that so far.He is just in a bad place right now.
Different manager, different catcher, etc, same old Cardinals. Do they ever stop complaining? Crying foul like they’ve been hit by a truck?
Yes, i know they were completely burned alive on some strike calls by the home plate ump. However … their big mouths are perennial.
Makes you appreciate how classy Francona is, as well as his crew and his team. I can’t imagine him ever showing up an ump, or allowing players to do that. He has wisdom.
And, on a positive note, i must admit i enjoy the desperation in the Cardinal dugout. It gives me joy.
Let’s go Reds, keep pushing and knock them down again.
Offense the main reason they lost. But all 3 relievers weren’t sharp. Roger’s and Barlow were a little lucky not to let up runs.
I wonder if Francona considers batting Lux 2nd in the lineup. It looks like they will need Marte to be big time producer if Hays is hurt. Marte probably the x factor I think in whether the offense can still be ok if Hays is down for awhile.
Sometimes it feels like it’s Elly De LA Cruz and 8 average or below average MLB players surrounding him on a daily basis. Definitely legit MLB guys around him most of the time and i root for them all but I think ultimately you need at least 2-3 stars in a lineup every day to be a 87 win or so playoff team
I think Lux and Hays complement Elly. Reds have been playing good baseball over last 20 games. 13-7 I think.
Once Mclain and Steer get going I believe Reds lineup will be very good. Not to mention when Stephenson comes back
Youre going to have days like this. The team has played so much better this year and has a noticeably different energy. They are doing the little things well which we havent seen in 6 or 7 years around here. Its one loss. You dont need to shift the batting order or fire anyone. Diaz should have never been in the bullpen for Francona to even use in the first place. Why is he even on the roster?
We are two accomplished bats from being a serious contender. Plus a shut down reliever.
“Alexis Diaz imploded”
In other breaking news…
Water is Still Wet
😉
Singer looked great! What a trade! I am really pleased India is gone! But when will Diaz be gone?
Steer still does not look right and is still batting well under .200. His exit velocity is way down. He only hit .220 last season and is too short to play 1B long term. So he and McClain still have not shown anything even close to what we saw in their first year but at least McClain gives them defense up the middle.