Molina's homer lifts Cardinals over Reds
St. Louis catcher Yadier Molina hit his sixth homer of the season to break a tie in the seventh inning and Paul DeJong and Dexter Fowler also homered when the Cardinals beat the Cincinnati Reds 4-3 at Busch Stadium on Saturday.
Molina homered off Jared Hughes (0-2) when the Cardinals' regained the lead after Cincinnati tied the game with three two-out runs in the top of the seventh. The Cardinals (12-8) have won all six games against the Reds this season, extending their head-to-head streak to 10 games.
Rookie Jordan Hicks (1-0) retired the final batter of the seventh inning and went the rest of the way for his first major league victory. Hicks walked Jesse Winker, hit Jose Peraza and walked Joey Votto with one out in the ninth inning before getting Scooter Gennett to ground into a double play to end the game. Hicks' fastball has averaged 99 mph, the highest in the majors, according to fangraphs.com.
DeJong hit a two-run homer in the second inning and Fowler homered in sixth for a 3-0 lead for Carlos Martinez, who pitched six scoreless innings as the Cardinals won for the seventh time in eight games. DeJong and Molina had two hits apiece.
Gennett had two hits and drove in two runs and Winker had two hits and scored a run for the Reds (3-17), who have lost both games since manager Jim Riggleman replaced Bryan Price on Thursday. The Reds have the worst record in the majors.
Martinez gave up three singles and three walks while striking out seven to lower his ERA to 1.42. He was removed after throwing 91 pitches. Martinez struck out 11 in seven scoreless innings in a 3-2 victory at Cincinnati last Sunday.
Cincinnati tied the game with three runs after Martinez was removed. Phillip Ervin and Winker singled with two outs before Joel Peraza singled off Tyler Lyons to drive in one. Votto walked to load the bases and Gennett lined a single to right field to tie the game at 3.
Reds right-hander Homer Bailey gave up seven hits and three runs in 5 2/3 innings, with four strikeouts and two walks. Bailey is 6-14 in his career against the Cardinals, 1-6 at Busch Stadium.
--Field Level Media
