Joey Votto’s walk-off HR erases bullpen implosion in Reds win over Cardinals

After seeing a 6-1 lead disappear against the St. Louis Cardinals, the Cincinnati Reds forgot all about it thanks to some heroics from their best player.

The ninth inning was a roller coaster for the Reds on Tuesday night.

In the top of the inning, closer Tony Cingrani blew another save, allowing the St. Louis Cardinals to score two runs and tie the game at six.

But just when it looked like the story would again be about another bullpen meltdown, Joey Votto stepped to the plate and took matters into his own hands. Against lefty specialist Kevin Siegrist — who Votto was 0-for-10 with six strikeouts against — the first baseman smoked a 107 mph, 411-foot, walk-off home run into the left-field bullpen, turning the mood around in Great American Ball Park as he gave the Reds their fifth win in the last six games.

Turning it around

For a second straight game, John Lamb tossed a career high in innings pitched (7 1/3), throwing a whopping 77 strikes on 112 pitches. He mixed his pitches and velocity well, allowing one earned run, four hits and two walks, while striking out five. The southpaw exited with a 6-1 lead and should’ve gotten his second win of the season, but nothing is ever so certain with the Reds’ bullpen. Through his first five outings of the year, Lamb had a 6.85 ERA, but he’s turned it around his last two starts, posting a 0.62 ERA.

An unceremonious return

Mike Leake was greeted rather rudely on the field by his former Reds teammates. In his first game against his old club since being traded last July, he got knocked around for six runs on 10 hits in 6 1/3 innings. The Reds continued their recent barrage of home runs versus Leake, as well, with (you guessed it) Adam Duvall hitting a three-run shot in the fourth — his 17th of the season — and (you probably didn’t guess it) Billy Hamilton bashing a solo blast in the seventh.

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Disastrous defense

While the bullpen did not have a great performance, it can’t take all the blame for the Reds blowing a 6-1 lead.

A fielder’s choice erased a leadoff walk by Lamb to start the eighth inning, but in a double-play attempt, second baseman Brandon Phillips threw the ball into the dugout, allowing runner Jedd Gyorko to advance to second base. Next batter Matt Carpenter hit a routine grounder to Phillips, but he booted the ball for his second error in the span of about a minute.

Blake Wood then relieved Lamb and gave up a sacrifice fly, followed by a pair of tough-luck singles. Jhonny Peralta then lined a two-run double down the left-field line to make it a 6-4 game.

Earlier in the game, third baseman Eugenio Suarez committed two more lackadaisical errors, giving him 12 on the season, four more than any other player in baseball at his position.

Notes:

• Hamilton’s home run wasn’t his only highlight of the game. He had two additional singles, two stolen bases and a sacrifice bunt, and is now hitting .263/.303/.391 thanks to his recent hot streak at the plate.
• Minus Lamb, every Reds hitter in the starting lineup had a hit, with multi-hit efforts from Votto, Duvall and Hamilton.
• The Reds got two other stolen bases from players other than Hamilton, one from Votto and another from — Ramon Cabrera?! The steal was the first of Cabrera’s big-league career.
  • Important to note: Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina did not even attempt a throw on any of these stolen bases.