Cincinnati Reds Lose First Game of Season, Falling to Cardinals, 4-1

33. 1. 61. . 4

An inability to come up with a big hit doomed the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday, as they left six runners in scoring position in their 4-1 loss — their first of the season — to the St. Louis Cardinals.

For the first time this season, the top of the Reds’ lineup was slowed down at least a little bit by opposing pitching. Billy Hamilton and Joey Votto combined to go 1-for-8 in the loss.

Michael Wacha and the Cardinals didn’t completely shut down the top of the lineup, however, as Todd Frazier went 2-for-4, including a solo home run in the bottom of the first to give the Reds another early lead.

Zack Cozart was the only other Reds’ hitter to do much of anything on the day, as he went 2-for-3 with a double.

After an error by Frazier, a hit batter, and a single, the Cardinals were able to strike back against Johnny Cueto in the second inning on a sacrifice fly from Kolten Wong. They tacked on another run in the fourth on a solo homer by Matt Adams.

Cueto finished the day after throwing seven innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits with a walk and four strikeouts. It wasn’t quite the spectacular performance we saw from him on Opening Day, but Cueto still threw the ball well and kept the Reds in the game. Unfortunately, the run support was not there for the Reds’ ace.

Burke Badenhop completely imploded in the ninth, allowing the Cardinals to extend their lead to 4-1. After tossing a scoreless eighth inning and getting an out in the ninth, he gave up four consecutive hits before being removed from the game in favor of Manny Parra. The left-hander was able to retire the next two hitters and get out of the inning without any more damage being done.

Other Notes:

The middle of the Reds lineup continued to struggle, as Devin Mesoraco, Jay Bruce, Marlon Byrd, and Brandon Phillips combined to go 1-for-15 in today’s game. They’re now a combined 9-for-73 through five games.
Mesoraco stole his first base of the season (third of his career), making the Reds 10-for-10 in stolen base attempts so far in 2015.
The two errors made by the Reds today were their first two of the season.
Brennan Boesch pinch hit for the Reds and struck out. He’s now 0-for-3 with three strikeouts and the Reds bench is 1-for-8 overall with six strikeouts.

Up Next: The Reds and Cardinals meet for their series finale tomorrow at 1:10 p.m. ET. Raisel Iglesias will make the start in what will be his Reds’ debut while Carlos Martinez will get his first start of the season for the Cardinals.

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