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Reds blow big lead, beat Cardinals in 13th

Jul 7, 2011 - 5:16 AM St. Louis, MO (Sports Network) - Pinch-hitter Ramon Hernandez lined the go- ahead RBI ground-rule double in the 13th inning, as Cincinnati overcame blowing an eight-run advantage to beat the Cardinals, 9-8, spoiling the return of Albert Pujols to the St. Louis lineup.

Pujols returned to the field Wednesday, one night after being activated from the 15-day disabled list. The three-time National League MVP had been sidelined with a broken left wrist, but returned well ahead of schedule. He went 1-for-6 with an RBI single.

"I saw him hit four balls on the nose," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said of Pujols. "He was on everything. I thought he was outstanding. He's probably a little tired."

Jon Jay led off the bottom of the ninth with a homer off Reds closer Francisco Cordero, but the Cardinals couldn't grab a sweep of this three-game series after limiting Cincinnati to one run over the first two contests.

Raul Valdes (0-1) walked Jay Bruce to start the 13th. Drew Stubbs singled with one out, and with two down Hernandez hit a low line drive just inside the left field line. The ball took three bounces before hopping into the stands.

Aroldis Chapman, the eighth Cincinnati pitcher of the night, recorded his first career save. He allowed a single to Tony Cruz with one out in the bottom of the 13th, but fanned Daniel Descalso and caught Jay looking at a 101 mph fastball to end it.

"Our bullpen for the most part did a great job," Reds manager Dusty Baker said. "That's about as hard of a victory you're going to get right there."

Jose Arredondo (1-3) pitched a pair of innings to get the win, Cincinnati's second in six games.

It looked like a lost cause early for the Cardinals as Jake Westbrook surrendered three homers among his eight hits and seven runs charged over 4 1/3 innings. That included a homer from Chris Heisey on the first pitch of the game.

Cincinnati came out firing on all cylinders, getting to Westbrook for five runs in the first before an out was recorded. Heisey began the game with a homer to left, while Edgar Renteria singled and Joey Votto walked ahead of a Brandon Phillips two-run triple. Bruce followed by launching a two-run shot to right.

Fred Lewis went deep in the fourth to extend the Reds' edge to 6-0, and in the fifth, Phillips singled with one out and Scott Rolen barely cleared the wall in left to make it an eight-run bulge.

Reds starter Bronson Arroyo was cruising, but then hit a wall. The Cards began their comeback in the sixth, picking up two runs on a Descalso double and RBI groundout from Ryan Theriot.

Matt Holliday started the home seventh with a shot that barely cleared the wall in left-center. Then, with runners on first and second with one out, Descalso's base hit plated another run and a Heisey throwing error brought in one more to make it 8-5.

Two batters later, Theriot lined a double to center which scored Descalso, and after a walk to Skip Schumaker, Pujols chopped a run-scoring single over Rolen's head for an 8-7 contest.

Jay greeted Cordero with his homer to right-center, but Pujols killed the rally by hitting into an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play.

Game Notes

The Reds, who are in fourth place in the NL Central, three games behind first- place St. Louis, are in Milwaukee for a four-game series starting Thursday. The Brewers are one game behind the Cardinals...St. Louis hosts Arizona for four games prior to the All-Star break...Arroyo allowed five hits on six runs over his 6 1/3 innings...The Reds haven't won a series in St. Louis since a three-game sweep from June 5-7, 2006. They are 0-12-1 in 13 series at Busch Stadium since that triumph.