It took extra innings to settle this one. Elly De La Cruz singled home Tyler Stephenson in the bottom of the 10th, and the Cincinnati Reds walked off with a 6-5 win over the St. Louis Cardinals after the two teams traded the lead deep into the night.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 11 | 0 |
| CIN | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 13 | 1 |
De La Cruz finished 2-for-4 with a walk, a strikeout and the RBI that ended it. But the game's offensive headline belonged to Ivan Herrera, named game MVP after going 1-for-4 with a home run, an RBI and a walk for St. Louis. Herrera's blast in the fourth inning tied the score at 1-1 and set the tone for a game that would not stay still.
The lead changed hands repeatedly. Cincinnati struck first when Suarez's sacrifice fly scored De La Cruz in the first inning. St. Louis answered in the fourth, with Herrera's homer tying it before Winn's single brought home Burleson to put the Cardinals ahead. The sixth inning turned wild: Church and Jordan each drove in runs for St. Louis, and Cincinnati answered right back as Toglia doubled home Bleday, then Rodriguez's single brought in both Suarez and Toglia to tie it at 4-4. St. Louis regained the lead in the eighth on Torres' single that scored Walker, but Dane Myers' home run in the ninth tied it again at 5-5 before De La Cruz's walk-off single in the 10th sealed it.
Cincinnati starter Rhett Lowder allowed 4 runs on 8 hits over 6.2 innings with 5 strikeouts, while St. Louis' Andre Pallante matched him with 4 runs on 10 hits across 6.0 innings. Justin Bruihl took the loss after recording no outs and allowing an inherited run to score, dropping to 1-1 on the season. Emilio Pagan earned the win for Cincinnati with a scoreless inning of relief, striking out two.
Cincinnati's bullpen covered 3.1 innings and allowed 1 run, while St. Louis' relievers worked 3.0 innings and gave up 2. The Reds, who improved to 60-65, snapped in with a second straight result after their record reflects a W1 streak, while the Cardinals fell to 64-62. Suarez, who had three hits including a double and drove in a run, sits at 999 career RBI, one shy of 1,000.