CINCINNATI — The two-out double Masyn Winn produced in the second inning against left-hander Andrew Abbott represented more than just the first spark of offense the Cardinals would receive Tuesday night against the Reds. It represented the start of one of Winn's most productive performances this season.

The Cardinals' Gold Glove shortstop collected three extra-base hits against Abbott — two doubles and a solo homer — that helped fuel a 3-0 win over Cincinnati at Great American Ball Park.

Winn, who set a season high in total bases with eight, reached base with his double in the second, hit a solo homer in the fifth inning and doubled with one out in the seventh to put him on base for Jose Fermin to drive him in on a double of his own. The Cardinals also received an insurance run in the eighth inning on a sacrifice fly from rookie Joshua Baez.

Winn's productive night allowed right-hander Kyle Leahy to exit his start with a lead after he tossed five scoreless innings. The runs added after Leahy was removed were enough of a cushion for relievers Ryne Stanek, Gordon Graceffo and Riley O'Brien to close out the win.

Each reliever provided one inning of work. O'Brien's inning earned him his 32nd save of the season.

With the Cardinals watching his workload, Leahy delivered five scoreless innings, struck out six and did not issue a walk in a 90-pitch effort. Leahy scattered three hits in his start and collected a strikeout in four of the five innings he appeared in to lower his ERA to 3.24 over a career-high 122 1/3 innings.

Winn gets to Abbott

The first two hits the Cardinals collected versus the Reds starter came from Winn. And while both were extra-base hits, only one of the two led to a run.

Winn hit a double to center field against Abbott with two outs in the second inning to get the Cardinals in the hit column and then lifted his homer to left with one out in the fifth. The homer elevated the Cardinals to a 1-0 lead and represented the first homer the Cardinals shortstop has hit off a lefty this year.

While his first extra-base hit did not lead to a run, it did create an opportunity for the Cardinals to get an early run against the Reds starter.

Winn’s double placed runners on second and third base after Elly De La Cruz’s throwing error on a grounder by Blaze Jordan extended the inning. The double by Winn brought up Fermin, who entered Tuesday with a .262 batting average against lefties.

In the Cardinals’ first chance to hit with runners in scoring position, Fermin fell into an 0-2 count two pitches into the at-bat. The at-bat ended on the third pitch he saw, which he grounded to De La Cruz.

Getting to the lefty again

The Cardinals shortstop continued his success against Abbott in the seventh inning. This time, it came in the form of a one-out double that set up Fermin with another chance to drive him in.

This time, Winn worked a 2-0 count by laying off a pair of secondary pitches Abbott left well out of the strike zone. He took a change-up for a strike before unloading on a sweeper placed below the strike zone. Winn pulled Abbott’s 2-1 sweeper down the left field line with a 105-mph exit velocity, per Statcast. Third base umpire Nic Lentz ruled the ball fair but with a little bit of a delayed call.

Winn raced to second base and dove in head-first to collect his third extra-base hit of the game. Two pitches later, he raced home on a double Fermin lifted into the left-field corner.

Fermin’s double chased Abbott from his start and led to the entrance of right-hander Zach Maxwell. The Cardinals continued to threaten in the seventh but had to settle for the one run on Fermin’s double.

Pedro Pages blooped a single just out of De La Cruz’s reach to set up a chance with runners on the corners after Fermin had to hold off on breaking from third base. The chance evaporated with a strikeout from JJ Wetherholt and a grounder from Ivan Herrera that resulted in a force out.

Leahy’s effective 5

Across the five scoreless innings he twirled Tuesday night, Leahy leaned mostly on his fastball and curveball to keep the Reds scoreless. Those two pitches combined for seven of the 13 whiffs he got, but it was the right-hander's slider that led the way in strikeouts.

Leahy used his slider to get swinging strikeouts in the first inning against JJ Bleday and Eugenio Suarez that allowed him to work around a one-out single. After his fastball, change-up and sinker were put-away pitches for the next three strikeouts that followed, he turned to the slider once more to finish his fourth frame.

Having shown Tyler Stephenson five different pitches during their encounter in the fourth, Leahy reared back for a 90.1-mph slider that broke off the outer half of the plate for an inning-ending strikeout of the Reds catcher.

Walks don’t lead to runs

Patient at-bats following Winn’s homer created another run-scoring opportunity for the Cardinals. After Winn scored Tuesday’s first run, Fermin and Pages saw a combined 10 pitches that drew two walks with the top of the Cardinals lineup looming.

The chance, however, ended without Fermin or Pages advancing.

Facing Abbott for a third time, Wetherholt elevated a 92.1-mph fastball to center field for an out. And in the next at-bat, Herrera chased an 0-2 sweeper to strike out for the second time against Abbott.

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