The Sports Xchange
Jun 8, 2017
CINCINNATI -- Joey Votto belted a two-run homer to highlight a 4-for-4 performance as the Cincinnati Reds completed a four-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals with a 5-2 victory Thursday afternoon at Great American Ball Park.
Scott Feldman (5-4) pitched a gem for Cincinnati (29-30), allowing only four hits with no walks and four strikeouts through seven innings.
The Reds swept the Cardinals in a four-game series for the first time since May 5-8, 2003, barely a month after Great American Ball Park opened.
Adam Duvall, batting fourth behind Votto on Thursday, went 3-for-4 with a double and RBI.
Matt Carpenter hit a two-run home run for St. Louis (26-32), which now has lost a season-high seven straight games for the first time since 2013.
Raisel Iglesias struck out two in the ninth to earn his 12th save.
Feldman retired the first nine batters he faced before Carpenter led off the fourth inning with a single. Feldman then retired three straight batters to strand Carpenter at third.
Cardinals starter Mike Leake walked a tightrope through the first four innings with Cincinnati collecting seven hits and a walk but no runs.
The Reds had the bases loaded with one out in the fourth before Billy Hamilton grounded to Carpenter, who stepped on first then threw home for a force play to complete an inning-ending double play.
Cincinnati finally broke through against Leake in the fifth.
The combination of Votto and Duvall combined to go 6-for-6 through the first five innings. Duvall's one-out double in the fifth drove home Votto to put the Reds ahead. Scooter Gennett then delivered an RBI single to make the score 2-0.
In a continuation of their recent lapses in execution, the Cardinals missed a cutoff man and a high throw from Yadier Molina sailed into center allowing a run to score, both during the Reds' three-run fifth.
Leake (5-5) allowed two earned runs on 10 hits through five innings.
Votto's two-run home run on the first pitch he saw from Tyler Lyons made the score 5-0 in the sixth. It was his 16th home run of the season, seventh coming on the first pitch.
NOTES: Reds LHP Brandon Finnegan will start for Double-A Pensacola on Sunday. He's been on the disabled list since April 16 with a left shoulder injury. ... The Reds do not expect RHP Anthony DeSclafani (elbow) to throw off the mound until late June and not likely to return until early August. ... Cardinals CF Dexter Fowler batted second, snapping his streak of 240 consecutive starts as a leadoff hitter. The last time he didn't bat leadoff was July 6, 2015. He went 0-for-4 with a strikeout.