The Cincinnati Reds led 3-0 after the top of the 1st inning. And then everything began falling apart. The St. Louis Cardinals followed up with 10 unanswered runs the rest of the game as they crushed the Reds to open the 3-game weekend series.
The Reds didn’t waste much time getting on the board on Friday night. Blake Dunn led off with a single and moved to second on a walk to Spencer Steer. Both would then score when Sal Stewart doubled into right center just past the glove of a diving Jordan Walker. Eugenio Suarez would reach out and make just enough contact to float a single over the infield to bring in Stewart to extend the lead to 3-0.
Things went Cincinnati’s way in the top of the inning but they sure didn’t in the bottom of the frame. Lars Nootbaar singled and then moved to second base when Edwin Arroyo’s throw to first base sailed into the dugout. Arroyo made up for that a bit on the next play as he made a heads up play after fielding a grounder and tossing to third base ahead of Nootbaar for a force out. Brady Singer then lost an 8-pitch batter with Alex Burleson when he singled into right field to put runners on the corners. Then with two outs Bryan Torres appeared to ground out to second base, but the umpire claimed that Sal Stewart came off of the bag at first. The Reds challenged the call and it remained as called.
That got Stewart upset who was certain he was on the bag and Terry Francona who came out of the dugout and was ejected from the game for arguing the review. The play should have ended the inning but instead led to a Cardinals run scoring. Singer then walked the next batter before uncorking a wild pitch that brought in the second run for St. Louis.
The game would be tied in the bottom of the 3rd inning when the first pitch of the inning by Brady Singer was hit 387 feet by Alec Burleson and it landed in the Cardinals bullpen for a solo homer. Two innings later they would take the lead. Singer walked the leadoff hitter in the 5th before being replaced by Brock Burke. He would get a force out on the first pitch he threw, but then Jordan Walker doubled to the wall in center to bring in the go-ahead run.
St. Louis played add on in the 6th inning. With Zach Maxwell taking over for the Reds he would give up a 1-out single and have that followed up by an RBI double and an RBI single that made it 6-3. A walk then came next and ended the day for Maxwell. Cincinnati then called on Luis Mey to enter the game. He retired the first batter he faced but then walked the next one to load the bases. His first pitch to Masyn Winn hit Alec Burleson to bring in yet another Cardinals run. An RBI single came next to make it 8-3. Mey then walked in a run. After a visit from pitching coach Matt Tracy, Mey walked in another run.
Zach McCambley then replaced Mey and struck out Lars Nootbaar to mercifully end the inning. He would keep St. Louis off of the board in the 7th and 8th innings, too. The Reds continued to be unable to put runs on the board leading up to the 9th inning. They needed a big rally to keep the game going and the bottom third of the lineup was due up. Noelvi Marte and Tyler Stephenson both singled to start the inning but the Reds would not be able to bring a run in as they fell 10-3 in the series opener.
Key Moment of the Game
While the blown call and blown review in the 1st inning led to two Cardinal runs scoring that could have changed the game, the bottom of the 6th inning that saw Zach Maxwell and Luis Mey give up six runs put the game out of reach.
Notes Worth Noting
Spencer Steer extended his on-base streak to 23 games.
Rookie reliever Zach McCambley has barely been with the organization for more than two weeks and he’s only been in the big leagues for four days but he’s now thrown three shutout innings to start his MLB career.
The Reds pitching staff walked nine batters in the game. All five pitchers used by Cincinnati issued at least one walk.
The struggles in the division continued as the Reds are now 2-11 against the NL Central in 2026.
Cincinnati fell to 31-31 on the year. They are at the .500 mark for just the 3rd time this season. They have only been below the .500 mark once this year and it was on Opening Day.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds vs St. Louis Cardinals
Saturday June 6th, 2:15pm ET
Nick Lodolo (2-1, 5.20 ERA) vs Matthew Liberatore (3-3, 4.35 ERA)