CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Reds have beaten the Cardinals just three times in nine meetings this season. Adam Wainwright has suffered two of those losses. But, then again, he hardly ever beats the Reds, it seems.
Wainwright is 180-96 against 28 other clubs but only 10-17 against Cincinnati after a 9-5 loss Friday night at Great American Ball Park in the first game of the post-All-Star-break schedule.
The Reds scored four runs in the second after Wainwright (6-8) was staked to a two-run lead and they scored two runs in the sixth, his final inning. In both innings, he walked backup catcher Michael Papierski, a .200 hitter, who scored both times.
Donovan Solano, a former minor league infield teammate of Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol when both were in the St. Louis system, drove in three runs, two on a home run.
Tyler Naquin drove in four runs, two on a triple and two on a single.
Those effectively canceled a two-run homer by the Cardinals’ Paul Goldschmidt and a two-run single by Tyler O’Neill.
Marmol was not around to see the end of it, finally being run by home-plate umpire Ryan Additon after an expletive-spiced analysis of Additon’s strike zone.
