Nothing about this game was settled until the final out. St. Louis and Cincinnati combined for seven runs in the ninth inning alone, and when the dust settled, the Cardinals had escaped with a 10-9 win that swung on an error, a slam and a bullpen that nearly gave it all back.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STL | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 10 | ||
| CIN | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 9 |
Matt McLain delivered the biggest swing of the night for the Reds, going 1-for-4 with a home run, four RBIs and a walk. His grand slam in the sixth inning erased a three-run deficit in one swing. Jordan Walker matched him for St. Louis, also going 1-for-4 with a homer and four RBIs, his third-inning blast doing much of the early damage for the Cardinals.
The Cardinals grabbed the lead in the first when Jordan Walker grounded out and JJ Wetherholt scored, then blew the game open in the third as Walker's homer brought home Wetherholt and Iván Herrera for a 4-0 cushion. Cincinnati answered in the sixth: JJ Bleday's single drove in Héctor Rodríguez, and two batters later McLain's grand slam capped a four-run inning that put the Reds ahead 5-4. But the ninth inning erased any sense of order. JJ Wetherholt reached on a fielding error by Dane Myers that let in José Fermín and Masyn Winn, putting St. Louis back on top 6-5 in what stood as the decisive go-ahead play of the game. The Cardinals kept adding on, with Alec Burleson, Joshua Báez and José Fermín each contributing to a four-run frame that pushed the score to 10-5. Cincinnati would not go quietly, with Eugenio Suárez, Sal Stewart and Tyler Stephenson combining to close within a run at 10-9 before the inning ended.
Brady Singer started for Cincinnati and allowed 4 runs (4 earned) over 6.0 innings with 5 hits, a walk and 3 strikeouts, leaving with a lead the bullpen could not preserve. Michael McGreevy started for St. Louis and gave up 3 runs (3 earned) in 5.1 innings. The Reds' bullpen combined for 6 runs over 3.0 innings, all unearned, with Brock Burke absorbing the loss after allowing 6 runs in just 0.2 innings. St. Louis reliever Peter Strzelecki worked 2.0 scoreless innings to earn the win, and Riley O'Brien closed it out for his save despite allowing a hit and two walks in a third of an inning.
The result snapped Cincinnati's momentum as the Reds fell to 61-67 on a one-game losing streak, while St. Louis improved to 66-63, riding the win into first place contention within its division at third in the standings.