Cincinnati Reds Drop Cardinals as Anthony DeSclafani Fans 10

1. 33. 5. 61.

W: Anthony DeSclafani (9-10)

L: Lance Lynn (11-10)

Cincinnati Reds pitcher Anthony DeSclafani has owned the St. Louis Cardinals in his rookie season, coming into Saturday’s start with a 2-0 record, a 1.38 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP in two starts against them. DeSclafani was at it again on Saturday, helping the Reds secure a series win over the owners of the best record in baseball.

It wasn’t an ideal start for the rookie, who allowed three consecutive hits to start the game as the Cardinals took an early one-run lead. DeSclafani needed 22 pitches to record his first out, but he didn’t look back from there. He struck out three batters in a row to limit the first inning damage, and never looked back from there.

Starting with his first strikeout of the day, the right-hander retired 15 batters in a row, not allowing another baserunner until Matt Carpenter‘s single to lead off the sixth inning. DeSclafani exited after six innings, having allowed only one run and four hits, while walking only one and fanning a career-high 10 batters.

The Reds’ offense was slow to get things going, not picking up their first hit off of Lance Lynn until an Eugenio Suarez single to lead off the fifth inning. A single by Tucker Barnhart put two runners on, and the bases were cleared two batters later when Skip Schumaker hit his first homer of the year to put the Reds in front, 3-1.

Joey Votto provided an insurance run in the seventh with a sacrifice fly that was awfully close to being a grand slam. The fifth and final run of the game for the Reds scored in the eighth when Jay Bruce started the inning with a ground-rule double and crossed the plate on a single by Barnhart.

DeSclafani’s performance was followed by three shutout frames from the Reds’ bullpen. Tony Cingrani walked two in the seventh, but escaped his self-inflicted jam. Burke Badenhop pitched the eighth and allowed a two-out single, but nothing more. Jumbo Diaz finished things up, firing a perfect ninth inning and punching out two.

Other Notes:

Votto extended his on-base streak to 31 games with a walk in the first inning.
The Reds were helped out by a pair of Cardinals errors, giving them five for the series.
After stealing four bases against Yadier Molina in Friday’s suspended game, the Reds stole two more against him in this one, as Votto stole his third base in two games and Todd Frazier stole his 12th base of the year.

Up Next: A juicy pitching matchup awaits in the series finale on Sunday as the Reds try for a four-game sweep against the Cardinals. Raisel Iglesias will get the ball for the Reds, trying to rebound from his first bad start in over a month, while Michael Wacha will start for the Cardinals. First pitch is set for 1:10 p.m. ET.

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