Duvall dinger decides suspended Reds-Cards game
CINCINNATI -- Thirteen minutes after the Reds and Cardinals resumed their suspended game from Friday, Cincinnati outfielder Adam Duvall tagged Jonathan Broxton for a two-run blast that helped lift the Reds to a 4-2 victory at Great American Ball Park on Saturday.
The game resumed in the top of the eighth with the score tied at 2. The Reds foiled the Cardinals' hit-and-run attempt to erase a baserunner with J.J. Hoover on the mound in the top half of the inning. Then, after a one-out single by Eugenio Suarez in the bottom part of the frame, Duvall hit a ball off the top of the right-field wall that Jason Heyward couldn't snag. The hit was the third of Duvall's career; all have been home runs.
"When I was playing here, I never saw one go out like that," said Broxton, who spent parts of three seasons with the Reds. "It just kept going, going and going."
Duvall wasn't sure if his drive had enough distance.
"At first, no. But then when I saw the ball fly, I thought that might have a chance," Duvall said. "Then I kind of saw [Heyward] with his face to me, and I was like, 'He might catch it,' but I guess it just kept carrying."
The loss cost the Cardinals another half-game in the division standings. And after they lost their regularly scheduled game later Saturday afternoon, the Cards lead the Pirates by 2 1/2 games and the Cubs by 5 1/2 games in the National League Central.
Before rain halted play on Friday, John Lackey had helped stabilize a fracturing Cardinals rotation by making his 17th straight start of at least six innings. He went seven on Friday, limiting the Reds to a pair of runs in the first two frames while tying his season high with 10 strikeouts. Of the three seven-inning starts the Cardinals have this month, two have been by Lackey.
Video: STL@CIN: Lackey strikes out 10 over seven frames
Michael Lorenzen scattered 10 hits and two runs over his five-inning start, which was a Major League record 42nd in a row by a Reds rookie. The 1902 Cardinals held the previous mark of 41. More >
Video: STL@CIN: Lorenzen picks up his third strikeout
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Jay pushes too far: Jon Jay's decision to try and stretch a double into a three-base hit prevented the Cardinals from being able to post a bigger inning against Lorenzen in the fourth. Jay followed a homer by Greg Garcia with a hit to center, but he was thrown out trying to advance as the ball was being kicked around in the outfield. The Cardinals followed with consecutive singles before a double play ended the inning.
Video: STL@CIN: Suarez grabs relay, throws Jay out at third
"With the pitcher right behind you and being nobody out, that's a push right there," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "We're always talking about aggressiveness, but still, take everything into consideration knowing the game situation. We want to push, but you also have to know exactly where you are in the game, where you are in the lineup, and then use that to make decisions."
Cabrera goes deep: In the top of the second inning of a 1-1 game, rookie catcher Ramon Cabrera hit a 1-2 Lackey pitch and pulled it into the right-field bullpen. It was Cabrera's first Major League home run.
Video: STL@CIN: Cabrera hits first big league homer to right
"It was great," Reds manager Bryan Price said. "To be able to have your dad fly in and you get your first hit [on Wednesday], and a couple of days later, get your first homer -- special moment. It was certainly great for our club."
Living on the edge: Though Brandon Moss is hitless in his last 19 at-bats, the Cardinals first baseman helped Lackey record a key out by leaning over the railing along the Reds' dugout to snag a Brandon Phillips popup with one out and runners on the corners in the fifth. Lackey followed with a strikeout of Todd Frazier to end the inning and preserve a 2-2 tie. Two innings later, Lackey struck out Phillips to end another threat with runners on first and third.
"He was terrific, absolutely terrific," Matheny said of Lackey. "Think about the high-leverage situations he got himself into and pitched himself out of with the same spot in the order twice. He just got better as the heat got turned up. That's what you hope your veteran pitcher is able to do. He got into some tight spots and got it done."
Finnegan begins tenure: Friday marked the Reds debut of Brandon Finnegan, one of the three left-handed pitching prospects acquired in the July 26 trade with the Royals for Johnny Cueto. A September callup, Finnegan replaced Lorenzen in the top of the sixth inning and retired all six batters he faced over two innings with two strikeouts. He threw 21 pitches. Although projected as a starter long term, Finnegan will likely work out of the bullpen the rest of this month. More >
Video: STL@CIN: Finnegan K's Carpenter to lead of the 7th
QUOTABLE
"That's what we were talking about in there. I need a single. I'll keep taking the homers. Right there, I was thinking single. That's probably the approach I need to take." -- Duvall, on having only homers thus far for Cincinnati
SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
Reds center fielder Billy Hamilton successfully stole second base twice -- in the first inning and the seventh. Both times, catcher Yadier Molina made error throws that advanced Hamilton to third base. In his brief career, Hamilton is 10-for-10 in stolen base attempts with Molina -- a perennial Gold Glove Award winner -- behind the plate. It was the third two-error game of Molina's career, and the first time that a team stole four bases against him in a game. Joey Votto had the other two steals.
Video: STL@CIN: Hamilton, Votto swipe two bases each
"You definitely don't want him on base, especially because they have some guys who can really swing it behind him," Lackey said of Hamilton. "You definitely need your focus more on getting those guys out more than worrying about him running around."
WHAT'S NEXT
Cardinals: After lasting just 2 1/3 innings in an outing against the Cubs earlier this week, starter Lance Lynn will look to bounce back while facing the Reds for a second time this season.
Reds: Anthony DeSclafani is 2-0 vs. the Cardinals in 2015, and he will try for another victory on Saturday. DeSclafani is coming off of a 7 1/3-inning, one-run performance for a 3-1 victory over the Pirates on Monday.
Watch every out-of-market regular season game live on MLB.TV.