Cardinals 5, Reds 4 (16 innings)
CINCINNATI -- Matt Adams hit two home runs in extra innings, including the eventual game-winner in the 16th inning, lifting the St. Louis Cardinals to a 5-4 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday at Great American Ball Park.
Adams entered the game in the fourth inning after Cardinals first baseman Allen Craig left with a sprained left foot.
With the victory, St. Louis (80-59) moved to within one game of first-place Pittsburgh in the National League Central. Cincinnati (78-62) remains 3 1/2 games behind the Pirates.
Cincinnati won the first two games of the four-games series, which concludes Thursday.
St. Louis went ahead in the 14th inning when Adams launched a 1-2 pitch from Alfredo Simon into the right field stands, giving the Cardinals a 4-3 lead.
In the bottom half of the inning, pinch hitter Ryan Ludwick singled. Rookie Billy Hamilton pinch-ran for Ludwick and stole second, and he scored on Zack Cozart's single.
Two innings later, Adams went deep to right-center off Logan Ondrusek (3-1) for the decisive run.
Carlos Martinez (2-1) pitched two scoreless innings to earn the victory. He was the ninth St. Louis pitcher of the night. Cardinals relievers retired 19 consecutive Reds batters before Shin-Soo Choo singled in the 12th.
Cincinnati used seven pitchers.
Cardinals second baseman Matt Carpenter continued his hot hitting, going 3-for-6 with a double, walk, and two runs. He is 6-for-14 in the series.
Carpenter doubled and scored on Beltran's single in the sixth to tie the score 3-3.
St. Louis had runners on first and third in the eighth and 11th innings but failed to score.
Cardinals starting pitcher Shelby Miller allowed three earned runs on six hits in 5 2/3 innings.
Reds starter Bronson Arroyo, who has struggled in his career against St. Louis, pitched seven innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on seven hits with four strikeouts and no walks.
Cincinnati's Zack Cozart and Ryan Hanigan singled to begin the second inning. Cozart scored from third on Choo's groundout, and Hanigan jogged home on Miller's wild pitch, putting Cincinnati ahead 2-0.
In the fourth, Matt Carpenter singled and scored on Matt Holliday's sacrifice fly. The Cardinals tied the game when Joey Votto fielded Allen Craig's grounder but threw wildly, allowing Holliday to score.
Craig was hurt rounding first base on the play and was thrown out. Adams replaced Craig at first base in the bottom half of the inning.
Brandon Phillips led off the fifth with a solo home run, and Cincinnati regained the lead, 3-2.
NOTES: The solo home run gave Phillips his 100th RBI of the season, a career high. Phillips is the first Reds second baseman since Joe Morgan (111 in 1976) to reach 100 RBI in a season. ... Cardinals RHP Jake Westbrook (back) threw a successful bullpen session Tuesday and is expected to be reinstated from the disabled list Friday when he's eligible. ... The Cardinals set their rotation for the weekend series against the first-place Pittsburgh Pirates. RHP Joe Kelly will pitch Friday, following by RHP Adam Wainwright on Saturday and RHP Michael Wacha on Sunday. ... Cardinals minor league 2B Brett Wiley was suspended 50 games after testing positive for a banned substance, the commissioner's office announced. ... With victories in the first two games of the series, Cincinnati ended a streak of seven consecutive series losses to the Cardinals.
