CINCINNATI -- Anthony DeSclafani was excellent Sunday. But unfortunately for the right-hander and the Reds, the team’s offense continued its season-long struggles. The Cardinals prevailed 3-1 at Great American Ball Park, clinching a series victory and sending Cincinnati to its seventh loss in 10 games since the All-Star break.

DeSclafani delivered one of his top starts of 2019, striking out a career-high 11 over six innings. He also issued zero walks, and allowed just two runs (one earned) and four hits. DeSclafani retired 12 of the last 13 Cardinals he faced. The 29-year-old has allowed three or fewer earned runs in eight of his past nine starts, lowering his ERA to 4.12.

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“He continues to get better, which is very encouraging for him and for us,” Reds manager David Bell said.

Sunday was DeSclafani’s first time working with catcher Ryan Lavarnway, who signed with the Reds on Thursday. The duo worked harmoniously despite their limited time together.

“I talked to him for a few innings [Saturday] about what I like to do with my pitches and how they work,” DeSclafani said. “I know he did some homework as well, looking at my previous games. He’s a smart guy.”

The Cardinals pushed across the game’s first two runs in the second inning. Yairo Munoz singled in Tyler O’Neill, and eventually scored the second run when Eugenio Suarez couldn’t cleanly field Harrison Bader’s groundball. The Cardinals mustered three singles and four stolen bases in the frame, but DeSclafani averted further damage by striking out St. Louis starter Jack Flaherty with runners on second and third.

Munoz also factored into the Cardinals’ third run, homering off of Raisel Iglesias in the ninth inning.

Flaherty was effective enough vs. the Reds, blanking the hosts over 4 1/3 innings, though he allowed six hits and walked two. Flaherty walked an especially thin tightrope in the fifth, as Jesse Winker doubled and Joey Votto singled to start the inning. After Suarez was hit by a pitch, up stepped Yasiel Puig with the bases loaded. After Puig worked the count full, Flaherty induced a pop-up. Giovanny Gallegos then relieved Flaherty, and promptly struck out Josh VanMeter and Scooter Gennett.

“It’s a competition. The Cardinals won the competition today in that situation,” Bell said. “That was the difference in the game.”

The Reds offense -- which entered Sunday ranked 12th in the National League in OPS, and 13th in runs scored and batting average -- finally cracked the scoreboard in the eighth on Phillip Ervin’s first-ever pinch-hit home run. But in the end, the Reds left 10 runners on base, went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position, and struck out 14 times.

The Reds are now off to Milwaukee for a three-game road trip, finishing off 10 consecutive games vs. NL Central foes. Cincinnati is 2-5 in that stretch thus far, and Bell knows his club has work to do to not only climb out of last place in the Central, but back into playoff contention.

“We’re not anywhere close to where we want to be. For us, it’s certainly about going about things the right way and having a process, but for us the results are either you’re in the playoffs and have a chance to win the World Series, or you’re not,” Bell said. “Clearly, we’re not currently where we need to be. On the other hand, we do have a long way to go.

“If we play as well as we are capable of the rest of the way -- we don’t even have to win 10 in a row, we just have to play consistently better. Crazier things have happened, and I believe this team is capable of that.”