CINCINNATI — The two runs the Cardinals received before their starter could take the mound Monday for Game 1 of a doubleheader vs. the Reds were enough to come away with a win.

The Cardinals were elevated to a 2-0 lead with Alec Burleson’s two-run double in the first inning against Reds starter Kant Emanuel. They received four innings and one run allowed by starter Quinn Mathews and one scoreless inning apiece from the four relievers who followed him to secure a 2-1 win at Great American Ball Park.

Called up to be the 27th man for the doubleheader, the rookie Mathews needed 95 pitches to complete his four innings as he allowed two hits, struck out seven batters and walked three. The lone run the lefty allowed came on a solo homer allowed to Dane Myers that ended an 11-pitch battle to open the fourth inning.

Behind the lefty, innings of relief were provided by Luis Gastelum, Gordon Graceffo, George Soriano, Ryne Stanek and closer Riley O’Brien. The inning tossed by Riley O’Brien earned the All-Star right-hander his 31st save of the season.

The five relievers held the Reds to one hit and no walks over the final five innings of the first of two games scheduled for Monday in Cincinnati. They combined for eight strikeouts.

The Cardinals (64-61) collected five hits and drew three walks against Reds spot starter Emanuel but settled for the two runs they pushed across on Burleson’s 32nd double of the year. They were held to two hits and a walk over the final four innings against Reds relievers Luis Mey, Pierce Johnson and Sam Moll.

Two-strike hits lead to two runs

After rookie Joshua Baez reached base on a hit by pitch to open Game 1, success with two strikes in at-bats from Ivan Herrera and Burleson helped push across the Cardinals’ first two runs.

Herrera fell into a 2-2 count against Emanuel after whiffing at a 2-1 change-up the lefty left atop the strike zone. The Cardinals designated hitter saw a change-up bounce in the dirt to work the count full, then took a sinker off the inner half of the plate for ball four.

Following a strikeout by Jordan Walker, Burleson also found his way when his at-bat reached two strikes. Against Emanuel, Burleson took three pitches to work the count to 2-1 and then fouled off a sweeper that broke off the outer half of the plate to move the count to 2-2.

On the first two-strike pitch he saw from Emanuel, Burleson lined a double into the right field corner to score Baez from second and Herrera from third base for the game’s first runs.

Lengthy battle ends with HR

The only run Mathews allowed came in the lengthiest at-bat of his outing. An at-bat against Myers that began with a fastball that just missed the strike zone evolved into an 11-pitch duel that ended with Myers lifting a homer to left field.

Seven of the 11 pitches Mathews threw to Myers to open the fourth inning were fouled away by the Reds center fielder. Myers got a piece of each of the four pitches Mathews has in his arsenal as he staved off a third strike. During the sequence, Mathews worked up, down, inside and away from the right-handed-hitting outfielder to search for the third strike that’d put him away for the inning’s first out.

Mathews had a 1-2 curveball left over the middle of the plate fouled off and then threw a change-up that missed low to extend the at-bat to a 10th pitch. Myers’ ability to foul off a second slider earned him a third slider. The third ended up being the pitch he hit 391 feet for a solo homer.

Leaving them loaded

The rookie Cardinals left-hander began his outing by preventing each of the first four batters he faced from putting the ball in play against him. Mathews notched swinging strikeouts of the first three Reds hitters and carried the strikeout streak into the second inning with a swinging strikeout of Eugenio Suarez.

The streak was snapped by a single from Myers that dropped into right field. The single gave the Reds their first base runner of the game. It was the first of three they had that inning.

Mathews walked the next two hitters on 11 pitches to load the bases, prompting a mound visit from pitching coach Dusty Blake.

With the Reds lineup threatening, Mathews began his at-bat vs. Noelvi Marte by getting Marte to whiff on a 94.5 mph fastball and foul off a 78.9 mph curveball thrown at the bottom of the strike zone. Mathews offered Marte two fastballs and then reached back for a slider that induced a pop-up into foul territory for out No. 2. Mathews welcomed Ke’Bryan Hayes by dotting a change-up at the bottom of the strike zone for a called third strike, then got Hayes to whiff on a change-up two pitches later to put the third baseman in a 1-2 count.

Following a 1-2 fastball that missed the strike zone, Mathews turned back to the change-up and coaxed an inning-ending groundout to prevent damage.

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