ST. LOUIS – It may have been bad luck for the Cardinals hitters or good pitching from the Reds, nonetheless the Cardinals failed to sweep the Reds in a 4-1 loss Sunday afternoon.
The Cardinals bats found the ball, it’s just that the ball seemed to always find a Reds infielder and outfielder. Cardinals while only striking out three times also only reached base five times on three hits, an error, and a walk.
“I actually think we took good at-bats,” Cardinals manager Oli Marmol said postgame. “Everything we put in play ended up landing in someone’s glove though. Our ball in play was a little bit different from theirs and it lead to them scoring a couple of runs.”
The Cards did get a run of their own off of a couple of hits courtesy of Nolan Arenado and Yohel Pozo. However, that second inning would be the last time the Cardinals would have a man on base until the eighth inning when centerfielder Jose Barrero drew a walk.
Andrew Abbott, the Reds starter who entered the game with a 6-1 record, retired 18 batters in a row after Arenado crossed the plate.
Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas went five innings, giving up four hits, two earned runs, and recording six strikeouts.
“There were really just a handful of pitches I’d like back there, the homerun and the double, but other than that I thought I did a good job moving around,” Mikolas said. “It makes me feel good that my stuff is maybe ticking up here. My fastball is feeling a little bit better it has a little bit more life on it.”
The Cardinals get set for a four-game series starting Monday with the Cubs.