 gave up two runs, one earned, on five hits. He struck out six and did not walk a batter. He was signed as a free agent on Dec. 5 after spending three seasons in the Japanese Central League.Wong's homer came off Luis Castillo (1-3), who allowed three runs on seven hits over five innings. He struck out three and walked four.The Cardinals added two runs in the third on a run-scoring hit by Dexter Fowler, who reached base five times, and Tyler O'Neill's sacrifice fly. It was O'Neill's first major league RBI.DeJong pushed the lead to 6-2 with his homer in the seventh off Kevin Quackenbush.The Reds scored twice in the sixth. Joey Votto's RBI infield single trimmed the deficit to 3-2.TRAINER'S ROOMReds: RHP David Hernandez will likely make his second rehab appearance on Monday for Triple-A Louisville. Hernandez has been bothered by right shoulder inflammation.Cardinals: RHP Adam Wainwright was placed on the 10-day disabled list on Sunday with right elbow inflammation. RHP John Brebbia was recalled from Triple-A Memphis. Brebbia made two appearances earlier in the season and did not allow a run in two innings. ... OF Tommy Pham missed his third game in four days with a right groin strain. He is day-to-day.UP NEXTReds: RHP Sal Romero (0-2, 5.75 ERA) will face RHP Brandon McCarthy (3-0, 2.91) on Monday in the first of a four-game home series against Atlanta. Romero will be making his fifth start of the season.Cardinals: St. Louis is undecided on a starter for Tuesday's game against the Mets because of Wainwright's injury. RHP Zack Wheeler (1-1, 2.77) will start the first of the three-game series for the Mets.---More baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball)
Reds seek relief from struggling ways against Cards 5h ago• 2 min read This is the way things go when you sport the worst record in the majors.The Cincinnati Reds' bullpen entered Saturday's game in St. Louis with a scoreless streak of 18 1/3 innings. So naturally, after being given a tie to protect when the offense rallied for three runs in the seventh, Jared Hughes ended that streak when he gave up the tiebreaking homer to Yadier Molina in the bottom of the inning as the St. Louis Cardinals notched a 4-3 decision.But that's unlikely to shake interim manager Jim Riggleman's faith in the bullpen for Sunday's series finale in Busch Stadium."They've been good," Riggleman said Friday night after the bullpen put up five scoreless innings in a 4-2 loss. "They all gave us a chance." Getting a chance is one thing. Cashing in on that chance is another. Cincinnati (3-17) has taken advantage of fewer chances than any team in baseball, saddled with the major leagues' worst record and worst run differential (minus-49) thanks to dropping four straight and 12 of 13.Saturday's loss might have been more galling than most. The Reds overcame a 3-0 deficit against St. Louis after the departure of Carlos Martinez after six scoreless innings. They also got a reasonably good start from Homer Bailey, who entered the game with a 6.00 ERA in 10 career starts at Busch.However, none of those things mattered in the end as the Cardinals (12-8) won for the seventh time in eight games and jumped over the Pittsburgh Pirates to take over first place in the National League Central. Six of the seven wins have come against Cincinnati, which they have beaten 10 games in a row since September.Results aside, St. Louis manager Mike Matheny knows his lineup is capable of more. Saturday's lineup shuffle put Matt Carpenter back in his preferred leadoff spot, moved Molina to a rare start at the No. 2 spot and placed Dexter Fowler in the five hole.Tommy Pham, who normally hits second, missed his second game in three days with a right groin strain."We were hoping it would progress better, but it didn't," Matheny said of Pham's injury suffered Tuesday night when the Cardinals finished a game in 34-degree temperatures at Wrigley Field in Chicago.St. Louis will march Miles Mikolas (2-0, 4.26) to the mound in search of its second straight weekend sweep of the Reds. Mikolas' last outing came April 14 in Cincinnati, when he checked the Reds on one run in seven innings for a 6-1 win in his first career game against the Reds.Luis Castillo (1-2, 6.75) gets the call for Cincinnati. The young, hard-throwing right-hander picked up his first win Monday night in Milwaukee, fanning eight in 6 2/3 innings while allowing five hits and four runs in a 10-4 decision. Castillo's changeup was particularly effective.It will be his second career start against the Cardinals. He faced them in August in Cincinnati, and although he gave up only three hits in 6 1/3 innings, he also yielded five walks and four runs in absorbing a 4-1 setback.
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