The St. Louis Cardinals overcame a grand slam with help from a crucial error in the top of the ninth inning, holding on for a 10-9 win over the host Cincinnati Reds on Thursday afternoon.
With St. Louis down to its final out trailing 5-4 in the ninth, JJ Wetherholt’s routine fly ball to left-center field hit off the glove of Reds center fielder Dane Myers, allowing the tying and go-ahead runs to score.
The Cardinals, trying to stay competitive in the National League wild-card chase, added four more runs off Reds reliever Brock Burke, who had trouble with command after the Myers gaffe. Burke (5-5) was charged with six unearned runs on two hits in two-thirds of an inning.
Peter Strzelecki (1-1) got the win in relief for St. Louis, which won the rubber match of the five-game series and has won five of its last seven games.
The Reds rallied for four runs in the bottom of the ninth to cut the Cardinals’ lead to one, but left the bases loaded when reliever Riley O’Brien got Matt McLain to line out to right field to end the game.
The Reds have lost five of their last seven games.
After Jordan Walker opened the scoring with an RBI groundout in the first inning, he hit a three-run home run in the third for St. Louis, his 26th of the season to make it a 4-0 game.
McLain’s grand slam in the bottom of the sixth inning capped off a five-run inning to erase the Cardinals’ lead.
St. Louis starter Michael McGreevy pitched five scoreless innings, but ran into trouble in the sixth after back-to-back singles for Hector Rodriguez and Ke’Bryan Hayes followed by a walk to Sal Stewart one out later.
Ryne Stanek relieved McGreevy, and JJ Bleday greeted him with a run-scoring single to bring home the first run. Stanek struck out Tyler Stephenson and had a 2-2 count on McLain before he lifted a splitter which just barely cleared the left field wall for his second career grand slam.
Brady Singer pitched six innings and allowed four runs on five hits for the Reds, who remain well off the pace in the NL wild-card race.