ST. LOUIS — The Cardinals took the weekend series from the Cincinnati Reds three games to two but they were fortunate to achieve that result considering the slow-to-warm offense they trotted out for most of the four days at Busch Stadium.
In four of the five games, the Cardinals had one run in the first eight innings, one in the first five, none in the first 10 innings and no runs in nine innings Sunday as they fell to the Reds 3-0.
The Cardinals, who struck out 17 times in a 1-0 win in 11 innings on Saturday night, struck out just twice on Sunday but also had just two hits.
After the Cardinals had won all of newcomer Jordan Montgomery’s first seven starts—he allowed just seven runs—they have lost his past two. Montgomery, who struck out a season-high nine in 5 1/3 innings, made only one mistake, a sinker to Stuart Fairchild in the sixth.
Fairchild’s two-run homer extended a 1-0 lead to 3-0.
On Albert Pujols Bobblehead Day, the 26th sellout crowd, 47,909, attended. Pujols, who played first base, went nothing for four to remain at 698 homers with just three of the Cardinals' final 14 games to be played at Busch.
Reds strike first
Cardinals second baseman Nolan Gorman made a good backhanded play on a chopper by Matt Reynolds to start the Cincinnati third. But, after a single by Jose Barrero and a two-out walk issued by Montgomery to Jonathan India, Spencer Steer shot a sizzling grounder under Gorman’s backhand and Reynolds came home for the game’s first run.
Cincinnati forced Montgomery to throw nearly 60 pitches for the first three innings.
Montgomery’s former Yankees teammate Luis Cessa, who mostly was a reliever in New York, was a ground-ball machine through three innings with every out recorded on the ground. But his defense almost let him down in the third. First, shortstop Barrero failed to backhand Paul DeJong’s backhand smash to his right.
That gave the Cardinals runners at first and second with one out and then second baseman Reynolds booted Brendan Donovan’s potential double-play ball and then couldn’t even get an out at first.
But, with the bases loaded, Barrero gobbled up Corey Dickerson’s grounder and, indeed, did start a double play that ended the inning.
Montgomery fans eight through five
Montgomery tied his season high for strikeouts as he struck out three in the fifth inning, two of them coming with men at first and second as he held the Cardinals close. He had struck out eight twice previously as a Cardinals this season and once with the Yankees. His career high set with New York, is 12.
Fairchild homers to stretch Reds’ lead
When Montgomery whiffed Aristides Aquino to start the sixth, that gave him a season-high nine. It also was the final out he recorded.
Nick Senzel blooped a single over the head of Pujols at first and then Fairchild, appearing for his fourth major club since spring training, ripped the left-hander’s 100th pitch, for his two-run homer to left center.
Fairchild’s homer was his fifth and he has six runs batted in for the year.
Nootbaar shows off arm
Reliever Chris Stratton inherited a second-and-third, one-out spot in the Reds' ninth. But Cardinals center fielder Lars Nootbaar quickly took care of that catching India's medium-depth fly ball and throwing out Reynolds at the plate.
