ST. LOUIS — Out to a one-run lead to start the sixth inning after Jordan Walker rocketed them to a one-run advantage with a double in the fifth, the Cardinals padded their lead with a double from the returning Lars Nootbaar and added to it with patient at-bat after patient at-bat on Friday night against the Reds.

The Cardinals lineup produced a six-run inning in a 10-3 series-opening with over Cincinnati at Busch Stadium. The scoring in the frame began with Nootbaar’s RBI double that hit off the wall in center field and continued as next eight batters, one of whom was hit by a pitch, combined for two hits and four walks against Reds relievers who struggled to find the strike zone.

The sixth inning that began with Victor Scott II leading off with a single wrapped around to allow Nootbaar to bat twice.

It also provided ample support for Hunter Dobbins, who worked five innings in relief of starter Kyle Leahy.

Dobbins worked around four hits and two walks as he struck out six Reds across his five scoreless innings. The right-hander, who made his season debut in relief last Sunday versus the Cubs, received help from a double-play ball in the fifth inning, notched two strikeouts in the sixth, stranded two runners on base in the seventh and induced a second double-play ball in the eighth.

The scoreless relief outing earned Dobbins his first win as a Cardinal.

The active sixth inning came after Sal Stewart (two RBIs) and Eugenio Suarez (one RBI) produced run-scoring hits off Leahy.

The Cardinals (33-28) cut the 3-0 deficit they faced at the end of the first inning with two runs in the bottom half of the first and closed it with Alec Burleson’s solo homer in the third. They took a lead in the fifth inning on Walker’s double off Brock Burke.

Walker's double was a part of a three-hit game.

Nootbaar helps move lineup

Penciled into the Cardinals’ lineup for the first time in 2026 after he was activated from the 60-day injured list on Friday, Nootbaar made his return to the majors after undergoing bilateral heel surgery this past offseason with a start in left field. He hit from the leadoff spot with regular leadoff hitter JJ Wetherholt sitting as he nurses a groin injury.

Nootbaar singled in his first at-bat on a ball that didn’t leave the infield and ranged to the left-center gap in the top of the second inning to haul in a fly out that ended the frame. He flew out to deep left field in the fourth inning on a hard-hit ball that carried 345 feet.

In the sixth, the ball Nootbaar put in play during his first at-bat of the lengthy sixth inning represented the first run in a six-run frame.

Hitting with a Scott on first base, Nootbaar worked back from an 0-2 count by taking the third and fourth pitches he saw for balls. He fouled off a 100.7-mph fastball to extend his at-bat and then earned an additional pitch by fouling off a cutter that hummed at 93.3 mph. He jolted a 99.4-mph fastball off the wall in center for a double that scored Scott and reached a 105.8-mph exit velocity.

Nootbaar, who described this past spring like he was “robbed” of his athleticism in previous years while playing through pain in his heels, raced from second to home on a single Ivan Herrera produced in the next at-bat.

Batting (or walking) around the 6th

A six-run inning started by Scott’s leadoff single hit against the grain of a shift and moved along with Nootbaar’s double, kept rolling along with a hit by Ivan Herrera and then strolled along thanks to patient at-bats.

Burleson’s six-pitch walk against Zach Maxwell advanced Herrera into scoring position. Bryan Torres’ two-out walk during an at-bat where he did not swing at any of the six pitches Luis Mey offered him loaded the bases for Masyn Winn, who was hit by a pitch to bring in a run.

The Cardinals received their fifth run of the inning with a walk from Jimmy Crooks, who, like Torres, did not swing at a single pitch from Mey.

By the time the walks allowed Scott to bat for a second time, Mey’s struggles to throw strikes reached a point to where Scott didn’t load his swing as he watched Mey walk him on six pitches.

The inning that jumped the Cardinals out to a seven-run lead came to an end after Mey’s exit. Zach McCambley entered to strike out Nootbaar on four pitches.

A busy bottom of the 1st

Following a three-run first inning by the Reds, the Cardinals pushed across two runs without collecting a hit on either play that ended with a runner crossing home plate. The first of the two runs scored by the Cardinals came on a fielding error that led to a replay review, and Terry Francona ejected.

After Walker struck out looking with runners on second and third base, Torres grounded starter Brady Singer’s 2-1 sinker that was fielded by second baseman Spencer Steer. Steer delivered an off-balance throw to first that was on target to first baseman Stewart that would have retired Torres and ended the inning if Stewart had managed to keep his right foot on the bag as he lunged forward for the throw.

The Reds immediately challenged first base umpire Ben May’s call. Following a lengthy replay review, the call on the field stood much to the disagreement of Francona. Francona was ejected by home plate umpire Chris Conroy after arguing the replay review.

Stewart’s error allowed Herrera to score from third and kept the bottom half of the inning alive for the Cardinals to load the bases with a walk and score on a wild pitch in the at-bat after the free pass.

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