ST. LOUIS — There finally was good news from Busch Stadium Saturday afternoon. Alas, there also was more bad news for the Cardinals.
The Cardinals’ starting pitcher, Johan Oviedo, who had his best game to date, came out of it in the fourth inning not because he was hurt but because manager Mike Shildt wanted to hit for him with the bases loaded.
Cleanup man Nolan Arenado, who had been on a 1 for 24 skid, delivered run-scoring singles to right field in each of his first two at-bats as he seemed to cut down his swing a little and then blooped a single in his final at-bat.
But...
Catcher Yadier Molina had to depart in the fourth after taking a foul ball off his left knee. And Ryan Helsley had another rough relief outing as the Cardinals dropped their third consecutive game in this series to Cincinnati and fourth in succession this week, 5-2. The Cardinals have lost six of their past seven although they tried to rally in the ninth before Cincinnati center fielder Shogo Akiyama made a sliding catch on Edmundo Sosa's liner with runners at second and third.
Helsley, who surrendered a game-untying, two-run homer to Eugenio Suarez in the sixth inning, has allowed 12 runs over his past 7 1/3 innings covering nine games in which his ERA has ballooned from 3.31 to 6.84. It was only the second homer Helsley had permitted all season.
The game started all right for the Cardinals, who had held an 84-45 advantage over the Reds at Busch Stadium III before this series.
Right fielder Tommy Edman’s running catch in deep center against .367 batsman Nick Castellanos helped Oviedo out of the first inning after, perhaps over-amped, Oviedo had walked leadoff man Jonathan India on five pitches, most of them fastballs.
Edman then opened the Cardinals’ first with a double to deep left center. Dylan Carlson and Paul Goldschmidt struck out but Arenado singled, Edman scored and a relieved Arenado clapped his hands excitedly at first base.
Shortstop Sosa slid behind second to make a dazzling stop on Mike Freeman’s leadoff smash in the third. Freeman initially was called safe by Scott Barry but the Cardinals challenged the call and won.
Oviedo, mixing a good change-up and curveball with his high-octane fastball, made Reds pitcher Tyler Mahle his fourth strikeout in the third before India cranked a change-up 419 feet to left for his second homer in two games and fifth for the season, tying the score at 1-1.
Tyler Naquin hustled a double out of what should have been a single to right center with one out in the fourth, barely beating Edman’s throw. Barnhart’s single to center put the Reds ahead 2-1 and Barnhart took second as center fielder Carlson missed the cutoff man on his throw home as Naquin scored.
Barnhart went to second on the play and scrambled back to second on the next one as Suarez hit a bouncer to Oviedo, who took a shot at Barnhart instead of throwing to first.
An infield out moved the runners along and an intentional walk to Freeman loaded the bases before a groundout by Mahle.
Molina had stayed in the game in the top of the inning after being hit by a foul tip when head athletic trainer Adam Olsen and Shildt had consulted with him, but not for long as Andrew Knizner took Molina’s at-bat in the next inning. Molina left with a left knee contusion.
Reds right fielder Castellanos missed a diving attempt on Goldschmidt’s looper inside the right-field line in the Cardinals’ fourth, which the batter legged into a triple. Arenado delivered again, with another run-scoring single to right and the game was tied again at 2-2.
Knizner flied to Castellanos, who took an uneven route before making the catch and Tyler O’Neill, hitting safely for his 12th game out of 13, doubled to left, with Arenado being held at third. Mahle chose to pitch around .155-hitting Matt Carpenter to load the bases for Sosa.
First baseman Freeman ran a long way for Sosa’s foul but then couldn’t hang onto it. Mahle proceeded to strike out Sosa and then Shildt took a calculated gamble. He used one of his three remaining bench men, newly recalled John Nogowski, to pinch hit for Oviedo, and Nogowski flied out.
Helsley relieved in the fifth and escaped after allowing a leadoff double to the hot-hitting India. He issued a leadoff walk to Barnhart in the sixth and Suarez crushed his 13th homer 409 feet into the Reds’ bullpen in left center.
While Shildt employed two of his four extra players in the fourth inning, Cincinnati manager David Bell pinch hit for his cleanup man, Naquin, with two on and no outs against left-hander Genesis Cabrera in the seventh.
This didn’t work either as Tyler Stephenson struck out. And then so did Barnhart.
Edman made a stellar diving catch on Suarez’s looper for the final out, but just before that, Cabrera unleashed a wild pitch, which rebounded to Knizner who then threw high to third. Jesse Winker, who might have been out, scored easily and it was 5-2.
The leadoff walk was the second of the game that resulted in a Cincinnati run.
