CINCINNATI — Although the Cardinals received a late rally that brought them within one run of making a comeback against the Reds, the mishaps that prolonged the eighth inning came back to haunt them.

After Jordan Walker smacked a two-run homer with two outs in the ninth and Jose Fermin doubled to put himself in scoring position for Masyn Winn to tie Wednesday night's game, the chance to make a comeback ended with Winn grounding to the pitcher after Fermin had reached third base in a 5-4 loss on Wednesday night to Cincinnati at Great American Ball Park.

The Cardinals entered the eighth inning down 3-2 after lefty Matthew Liberatore had a sharp start spoiled by a three-run homer he allowed to Sal Stewart with one out in the sixth inning. Liberatore allowed one hit and struck out eight before Stewart's homer.

The left-hander collected eight strikeouts and allowed one hard-hit ball as he retired 15 of the first 16 hitters he faced before the three consecutive hits allowed in the sixth inning erased a 2-0 lead the Cardinals took in the second inning against Reds right-hander Chase Burns. Liberatore left the start with nine strikeouts in six innings.

The fourth and fifth runs the Reds scored came in the eighth inning on bunt attempts the Cardinals couldn’t record outs on. One came via a throwing error by third baseman Blaze Jordan, who fielded a bunt by Matt McLain but sailed it beyond first base. The errant throw allowed Jose Trevino to score after he singled and moved up to second base on a wild pitch.

With runners on the corners and no outs, Dane Myers pushed a bunt up the first base line that was fielded by reliever Justin Bruihl. Bruihl was left with no chance to throw to first since no one covered the bag.

The Cardinals (65-63) put runners into scoring position in the seventh and the top of the eighth when they trailed by just one run. The chance in the seventh ended with pinch-hitter Fermin popping up with runners on the corners and two outs.

In the eighth, Joshua Baez walked and stole second base to put him in scoring position with one out. Back-to-back strikeouts from Jordan and Jimmy Crooks against Luis Mey erased the chance to tie the game.

The Cardinals struck out 12 times. The two runs pushed across Burns came on singles in the fourth inning from Nathan Church and Bryan Torres.

Trouble in the sixth

Liberatore recorded a fly out of Trevino to open the sixth before surrendering a double to McLain, a single to Elly De La Cruz and a three-run homer to Stewart in consecutive at-bats. The two extra-base hits in that span came on pitches that had been key in getting Liberatore off to a sharp start.

Against McLain, Liberatore worked the count to 2-2 and then offered McLain a curveball. The curveball was responsible for three of Liberatore’s eight strikeouts up to that point, but the one he threw to McLain in that spot broke in the bottom third of the strike zone and was hit to left field with a 107.4-mph exit velocity.

Following De La Cruz’s line drive single, which was knocked down by a leaping JJ Wetherholt and kept McLain from scoring on the hit, Liberatore placed Stewart in a 1-2 count three pitches into their encounter. On the fourth pitch, Liberatore reared back for a fastball, which was a put-away pitch for three of his eight strikeouts by then, but left it over the middle of the plate.

The fastball was hit 422 feet to center field for a go-ahead three-run homer.

Tallying two

Held to two hits through three innings against the hard-throwing Reds’ starter, the Cardinals found their opening on offense in the fourth inning. The combination of walks and two-strike swings helped them get out to a 2-0 lead.

Alec Burleson became the first Cardinal to reach base vs. Burns in the fourth with a walk on eight pitches. Burleson had two foul balls off back-to-back 1-2 fastballs before he could take the next three pitches to earn the free pass. And after he advanced on a wild pitch during Walker’s at-bat, Burleson scored thanks to Church’s ability to send an 0-2 fastball to left field for a single.

Church moved into scoring position after Winn watched four of the five fastballs Burns threw him miss the strike zone.

Like Burleson and Church, Torres faced a two-strike count against Burns. Torres took two sliders in the dirt before fouling off a slider for strike one and fouling off a 96-mph fastball for strike two.

And like Burleson and Church, he found a way on. Torres sent a 2-2 slider to right field for a single that scored Church without a throw to home.

Jordan nabbed at home

After the chopping grounder pulled by Jordan and fielded on the outfield grass by shortstop De La Cruz left De La Cruz without a chance to throw Jordan out at first base in the third inning, the Reds youngster got a second chance to throw out Jordan later that inning and capitalized on it.

Jordan became the first Cardinal to collect a hit against Burns with his single that was stopped by De La Cruz. A line drive Wetherholt hit to the wall in right-center field created a chance for the Cardinals to score their first run as Jordan was waved home by third base coach Ron “Pop” Warner. Jordan had already touched third base and continued running toward home by the time Myers’ relay throw reached De La Cruz in shallow center field.

De La Cruz’s throw to catcher Trevino reached Trevino on the fly and in time for Trevino to apply a tag on Jordan in front of the right-handed hitter’s batter’s box as Jordan began his slide into home plate.

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