CINCINNATI — While so much more felt possible before things came apart in the evening game of the doubleheader, the Cardinals came to Cincinnati, won a series, nibbled into the Reds’ wild-card lead, and still may have lost something Wednesday night of importance to the standings.
A day and two games off the calendar.
The Cardinals asserted themselves with Paul Goldschmidt’s two homers and 12 quick hits off the Reds’ starter in Game 1. The Reds answered back, aggressively, to split the doubleheader with a 12-2 thumping in Game 2. Nick Castellanos had two home runs, including a grand slam, and six RBIs in his first two at-bats of the night game as the Reds’ followed their 5-4 loss to the Cardinals earlier in the day by reclaiming a 2 1/2 game lead in the wild-card race.
The day slipping off the schedule means the Cardinals have only three head-to-head games remaining against the Reds, all three coming at Busch Stadium during the next homestand. Time is as precious as wins.
The Cardinals needed four scoreless innings from their bullpen to hold on to a one-run win in the first game, and the second game was over before the fourth inning got started. The Reds had an 11-1 lead by the end of the third, and the Cardinals were scrambling to cover the innings left by starter J. A. Happ and a sudden injury to Junior Fernandez. Happ allowed seven runs on eight hits before getting an out in the second inning.
The Cardinals managed two runs, both on solo homers, off Reds starter Sonny Gray.
A calm, close, crisp Game 1 gave way to chaos in Game 2.
Happ had not yet collected a fourth out when Castellanos already had six RBIs. The Reds’ right fielder homered in his first at-bat of the game to wrench the lead back from the Cardinals after Tommy Edman’s leadoff homer. In the second inning, three singles off Happ loaded the bases for Castellanos, and he unloaded for a grand slam. His seventh career grand slam turned Game 2 quickly into a rout.
Then things got really confusing.
Castellanos’ grand slam came with a bat that appeared to have a crack in, and a piece of the top of the barrel was missing from it. That prompted a “rule check” with Major League Baseball to determine if Castellanos had used illegal equipment, or if that equipment had helped him hit the grand slam. An MLB official said the crew determined the “bat was OK,” but Castellanos was told to no longer use the bat for safety reasons.
He ultimately gave the bat, which was engraved not with his name but with the phrase “The Artist,” to a kid in the stands, right behind the dugout.
That assertive punch the Cardinals landed in the first inning of both games had a lasting impression in the first half of the doubleheader.
The second batter of the first game, Goldschmidt, socked a solo home run for an early 1-0 lead. Harrison Bader added a home run in the second inning to give Miles Mikolas a 2-0 lead to defend. It vanished in a gulp during the Reds’ three-run inning. The Cardinals tied the game in the top of the third, fell behind in the bottom of the third, and the seesaw continued into the fourth inning when the game turned like it began — with a Goldschmidt homer. The Cardinals’ first baseman hit a two-run homer to put the Cardinals ahead.
His 19th career multi-homer game was also his second in less than two weeks.
The Cardinals had 12 hits against Reds starter Wade Miley by their 18th at-bat, and they would not add another run however as the bullpen took over. Mikolas, undone some by some fluke hits that included a two-run, threaded double by Miley, had needed 55 pitches to get nine outs. With the doubleheader flanked by off days, the Cardinals could use their roster more aggressively and did, ending Mikolas’ start after three innings and calling on the late-inning relievers to cover 12 outs.
Genesis Cabrera got six of them without allowing a run.
Giovanny Gallegos secured his fourth save of the season, his second since becoming the Cardinals’ first choice for the last inning, by retiring the top of the Reds’ lineup in order.
