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Reds power their way past Cardinals

Sep 3, 2011 - 6:12 AM St. Louis, MO (Sports Network) - Juan Francisco cracked a three-run homer in the ninth inning and finished with five RBI to lead the Reds to an 11-8 win over the Cardinals in a slugfest of an opener to a three-game series at Busch Stadium.

Yonder Alonso smacked a two-run homer and Todd Frazier added a solo shot for the Reds, who came into the series having been swept in four games by the Phillies.

Jose Arredondo (4-4) tossed one inning of relief to earn the win, giving up one run and one hit, while Marc Rzepczynski (0-1) gave up two runs on two hits in the seventh inning to take the loss.

Rafael Furcal, Matt Holliday and David Freese all hit solo homers, while Lance Berkman and Albert Pujols added two hits apiece for the Cardinals, who had their four-game winning streak come to an end.

The Reds took the lead for good in the seventh. Jay Bruce laced a one-out single off of Rzepczynski and Alonso slugged a two-run bomb over the wall in right for an 8-6 edge.

In the home seventh, the Cardinals put two men on and got the potential go- ahead run to the plate several times. But Matt Holliday flied out to center, and Berkman smashed a pitch from Logan Ondrusek deep to the warning track in center. But he didn't get all of it, and the ball settled into Drew Stubbs' glove.

"We had chances for bigger innings," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. "We really had opportunities to get some extra runs on the board and then we gave up extra runs."

In the eighth, the Cardinals made it a one-run game when a two-out single by Furcal brought home Yadier Molina.

Francisco gave the Reds some breathing room in the top of the ninth when he smashed an offering from Kyle McClellan over the wall in dead center field. Joey Votto singled earlier in the inning and McClellan hit pinch-hitter Miguel Cairo before the homer made it an 11-7 game.

Holliday got one run back in the bottom of the inning when he launched a solo blast off of Reds closer Francisco Cordero, but it wasn't enough as the Reds held on for the victory.

The Reds opened the scoring in the second inning when Alonso smashed a leadoff double to left, then moved to third on a bunt single by Stubbs.

Francisco knocked home both runners with a double to right, and moved to third on a groundout by Ramon Hernandez before scoring on a double by Brandon Phillips. Edgar Renteria then slapped a single to left to score Phillips.

The difficult inning continued for Cards starter Chris Carpenter, as he then gave up singles to Votto and Bruce to make it a 5-0 game.

The Cardinals got back in the game in the home half of the inning. Holliday walked and Berkman singled to right before Freese hit an RBI single up the middle. Molina then grounded into a fielder's choice, which allowed Berkman to cross the plate.

St. Louis picked up another run in the third when Jon Jay singled, moved to second on a single by Pujols and hustled home on a single by Berkman, making it 5-3.

The Cardinals continued their comeback in the fifth, which Furcal led off by crushing a Johnny Cueto offering over the wall in right to pull the Cardinals within one. Jay and Pujols slapped back-to-back singles following the home run, and Jay scored the tying run when Holliday grounded into a 6-4-3 double play.

Despite the Cardinals' resilience to dig out of a 5-0 hole, the Reds quickly re-took the lead in the top of the sixth when Frazier pulled a ball down the right field line. It barely stayed fair and landed two rows back to give the Reds a 6-5 advantage.

In the home half, Freese knotted the game when he greeted Arredondo by crushing a ball over the wall in right field.

Game Notes

Friday kicked off a nine-game homestand for the Cardinals...The Reds lead the season series with the Cards, 8-5...Carpenter lasted six innings, giving up six runs on eight hits while fanning five and walking one...St. Louis is 35-30 against the National League Central, while the Reds hold a 34-27 mark against their own division...Cueto gave up five runs on eight hits over five innings, while striking out two and walking two...With the St. Louis loss and Milwaukee's win Friday, the Cardinals now trail the Brewers in the NL Central by 8 1/2 games.