Final
Reds beat playoff-bound Cardinals to avoid sweep
Sep 22, 2014 - 6:05 AM St. Louis, MO (SportsNetwork.com) - Jay Bruce homered twice and knocked in three runs to help the Cincinnati Reds to a 7-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals in the finale of a three-game set.Devin Mesoraco hit a three-run home run and Todd Frazier also homered for the Reds, who snapped a six-game losing streak.
Alfredo Simon (15-10) earned the win after going six innings and allowing two runs on seven hits.
St. Louis, which clinched its fourth consecutive playoff berth earlier in the day via Milwaukee's loss to Pittsburgh, leads the Pirates by 2 1/2 games in the NL Central.
Lance Lynn (15-10) took the loss after he yielded three runs on four hits with nine strikeouts over six innings.
"(Lynn) was good enough for us to win tonight. We just couldn't put enough together offensively," said St. Louis manager Mike Matheny.
Xavier Scruggs and Randal Grichuk each knocked in a run for the Cardinals, who had four straight and seven of eight overall.
Bruce got the scoring started with a solo shot to right in the fourth.
St. Louis got the run back in the fifth, though. Daniel Descalso doubled to begin the frame, then Scruggs slapped a single into left that tied the game.
Frazier homered with one out in the sixth to restore the lead for the Reds before Brandon Phillips doubled with two outs and scored on Bruce's single to left.
Yadier Molina and Grichuk contributed back-to-back doubles with one out in the home sixth to cut the deficit to 3-2.
Cincinnati broke the game open in the eighth. Kevin Siegrist replaced Jason Motte on the hill and immediately walked Kristopher Negron and Frazier. Sam Tuivailala came on to replace Siegrist and allowed a three-run blast from Mesoraco. Bruce added his 18th homer of the season later in the inning.
"To be able to get to (Lynn) a little bit and continue to keep our foot on the gas and score some runs to kind of ease into a win is nice," Bruce said.
Game Notes
St. Louis finished the season 7-2 at home against the Reds ... Lynn had gone 3-1 against Cincinnati in four starts this season entering the game ... This was the 15th multi-homer game of Bruce's career.
- CINCINNATI: 7
ST. LOUIS: 2
Final
Sep 21 11:10 PM - Jay Bruce one-out, solo Home Run 2 (18) to right. Yorman Rodriguez due up.
Reds 7, Cardinals 2 Top 8, 1 OutSep 21 10:38 PM - Devin Mesoraco none-out, three-run Home Run (24) to left scored Kristopher Negron and Todd Frazier. Brandon Phillips due up.
Reds 6, Cardinals 2 Top 8, 0 OutsSep 21 10:35 PM - Randal Grichuk doubled to left scoring Yadier Molina with one out. Runner on second and Daniel Descalso due up.
Reds 3, Cardinals 2 Bot 6, 1 OutSep 21 10:03 PM - Jay Bruce singled to left scoring Brandon Phillips with two out. Runner on first and Yorman Rodriguez due up.
Reds 3, Cardinals 1 Top 6, 2 OutsSep 21 9:53 PM - Todd Frazier one-out, solo Home Run (27) to left. Devin Mesoraco due up.
Reds 2, Cardinals 1 Top 6, 1 OutSep 21 9:45 PM - Xavier Scruggs singled to left scoring Daniel Descalso with none out. Runner on first and Lance Lynn due up.
Reds 1, Cardinals 1 Bot 5, 0 OutsSep 21 9:33 PM - Jay Bruce two-out, solo Home Run (17) to right. Yorman Rodriguez due up.
Reds 1, Cardinals 0 Top 4, 2 OutsSep 21 9:10 PM - CINCINNATI: 0
ST. LOUIS: 0
Top 1, 0 Outs
Sep 21 8:09 PM
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