Spencer Steer's two homers lead Reds to 6-1 romp against Cardinals' wheezing lineup

CINCINNATI — While the St. Louis Cardinals’ labor-intensive struggles against lefties persisted, it took the Cincinnati Reds only a few swings — and a few swipes too, for good measure — to turn a tight contest into a rout that left the Cardinals more than fuming.

They’re close to reeling.

The Cardinals could not produce sustained rallies despite a flurry of early baserunners, unlike the Reds who did so in quick, emphatic gulps. Leadoff hitter Spencer Steer hit two home runs and dynamo talent Elly De La Cruz hit a homer, and with those three swings the Reds produced all of their runs in a 6-1 trouncing of the Cardinals on Monday at Great American Ball Park. The Cardinals’ seventh loss in their past 11 games puts them in jeopardy of being caught in the win column this week by the fourth-place Reds.

All three of Cincinnati's homers came against former Red and current Cardinals’ starter Sonny Gray. Steer’s second homer of the game was a three-run shot in the fifth inning that came moments after manager Oliver Marmol’s ejection and moments before Gray’s exit from the game after five innings. Reds starter Andrew Abbott (10-9) became the latest lefty to quiet the Cardinals’ offense.

The Cardinals loaded the bases twice before the end of the third inning, but those innings that got away captured succinctly why they struggle so mightily against left-handed pitchers.

It’s all about the thump.

The Reds got it. The Cardinals lacked it.

Without power vs. lefties they need a parade of hits to produce run.

The odds line up against them.

By the end of the third inning, the Cardinals had four hits and three other baserunners thanks to two walks and a hit batter and yet only a narrow lead. Reds lefty Abbott put himself into trouble after Paul Goldschmidt’s second-inning double by hitting the next batter and walking Jordan Walker. In his first plate appearance since returning to the majors, Walker loaded the bases and the Cardinals had a crack Abbott with the bases loaded.

The inning ended when Pedro Pages hit into a double play.

It took the Cardinals two singles and another walk to squeak across their first run. In the same inning they took that 1-0 lead, they had three singles, two of them with a runner in scoring position. But only one produced an RBI. Contrast that with what followed: The Reds took two swings to turn one walk and two hits into three runs. While the Cardinals were having to defy the odds by stringing together singles, the Reds were streamlining their offense — with homers.

The Cardinals, who are slugging just .359 against lefties this season, got five hits and eight baserunners against Abbott in the lefty’s 6 2/3 innings. But eked out only one run.

Familiar haunt for Gray

In the span of two pitches, Gray was reminded of all the confining comforts of a former home.

The Cardinals’ right-hander spent three seasons with the Reds — and entertained a return this past offseason when Cincinnati pursued him as a free agent — and he knows well how baseballs tend to fly at Great American’s pinball parlor. With the three homers hit Monday, Gray has allowed 29 in his 199 1/3 innings at GABP. For comparison, he’s allowed only 13 in 190 2/3 innings at Minnesota’s Target Field and only six in his 106 1/3 innings at Busch Stadium.

Gray blitzed the Reds his first time through their order.

He struck out five of the first six Reds he faced and had seven strikeouts his first time through the Reds’ lineup. By the start of the fourth inning, Gray already had 13 swings and misses, and he at least one on seven different pitches.

But he and the Cardinals also trailed, 3-1.

With a runner in scoring position in the third inning, Gray struck out the final two batters in the Reds’ order to get ahold of the inning. When Steer got a second look at Gray, the right-hander missed with a 92.7-mph sinker and Steer drilled it 360 feet for a two-run homer that erased the Cardinals’ lead. The next pitch – a 93.7-mph fastball – De La Cruz crushed for a 399-foot liner that reached the right-field seats. Two pitches, two swings, and the Reds had three runs.

Marmol ejected as Reds pull away

A source of frustration for catcher Pedro Pages and hitters like Tommy Pham all night, the strike zone apparently brought Marmol out to argue in the fifth inning.

After an automatic ball called on Gray for a pitch time violation, the right-hander delivered a tight, biting off-speed pitch to Steer that seemed to clip the lower edge of the strike zone. Home plate umpire Stu Scheurwater did not see it that way, and he called the pitch a ball. Pages slapped his mitt on the dirt behind the plate. Not too long after that, Scheurwater spun toward the dugout and ejected Marmol for the manager’s fourth this season.

He’s the second manager ejected by Scheurwater in a week.

Scheurwater ejected Giants manager Bob Melvin this past Thursday for arguing a called strike, and it’s the second time this season the umpire has ejected Melvin.

Immediately after Marmol’s ejection, Steer hit the three-run homer mushroomed the lead and left Gray with six runs allowed (all on homers) despite nine strikeouts in five innings.

Reds primed to run on Cardinals

Entering the week, no team in the majors had stolen more bases this season than the Cincinnati Reds. That proved a particularly problematic skill for the Cardinals since no team in the National League has thrown out fewer would-be base-stealers than the Cardinals. Opponents are 110 for 129 in steal attempts against the Cardinals. Two of the runners the Cardinals caught stealing came Saturday at Kansas City in a series that also saw the Royals teal four bases. The Reds are 164 for 197 on steal attempts.

A subplot for the series is how the Cardinals – specifically the Cardinals’ pitchers – will defend against base thefts, either by keeping the Reds off base or keeping them closer to the base.

“We have to vary our looks, vary our times,” Marmol said. “You do those things well, then hopefully it can keep it somewhat in check.”

While the home runs tilted the scoreboard, the Reds set each of their first two rallies up with a steal of second base. Of the first 17 batters the Reds sent to the plate against Gray, the only one to reach base without hitting a homer was Jake Fraley. He walked in the third. He singled in the fifth. And each time he stole second base. He would score on Steer’s home runs, but he would give three other teammates plate appearances with a runner in scoring position.

Ducks on the pond left floating

What could have been for the Cardinals happened before all that did.

In the second and third innings, the Cardinals loaded the bases on Abbott. In the span of 10 batters, they had seven reach base, four of them with hits. But in each inning, the potential rally fizzled. Only Nolan Arenado’s RBI single drove home a run with a teammate in scoring position. The Cardinals were 0 for 2 with the bases loaded, bouncing into a double play in their first chance and striking out to end the third inning with three runners stranded.

The 1-0 lead taken in the top of the third inning did not outlast the bottom of the third.

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