ST. LOUIS — Manager Mike Shildt had said before Sunday’s game with Cincinnati he felt that Cardinals slugger Nolan Arenado was about to go on a run after Arenado’s triple and two-run homer in his final two at-bats on Saturday night. And then Arenado’s next at-bat, his first on Sunday, also resulted in a two-run homer.
For the second game in succession, an Arenado homer was the precise margin of victory as the Cardinals closed out a key series with the Reds with a 2-0 win at Busch Stadium, moving them to one game behind Cincinnati as those two teams, among several others, joust for a wild-card spot in the National League playoffs.
The Cardinals wrapped up a 4-3 home stand after losing the first two games of it to the Los Angeles Dodgers.