CINCINNATI — Nolan Arenado finally had a reason to smile.
Stuck in the most frustrating start to a season in his career, Arenado blasted a two-run home run in the fourth inning on Tuesday night that sent the Cardinals to the win over the Reds in Cincinnati.
It was only the fourth home run of the year in 200 at-bats for Arenado. The blast, which followed a single by Ivan Herrera, gave him more RBIs on one swing than he had in his previous eight games and 30 at-bats combined.
It was only the second extra-base hit for Arenado in his last 45 at-bats, covering 11 games – he had a double on May 22.
The Cardinals won for the sixth time in their last seven games.
Here is how Tuesday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: The Cardinals also got a two-run homer from Nolan Gorman in the seventh, his team-leading ninth of the season … Masyn Winn’s RBI double gave the Cardinals their first run in the third and extended his hitting streak to 17 games … Winn’s second RBI of the night came on a groundout and capped a three-run seventh inning … Herrera had three of the Cardinals’ 13 hits, including an RBI single in the ninth following a double by Paul Goldschmidt. It was the Cardinals’ first hit in nine at-bats with a runner in scoring position.
On the mound: Kyle Gibson did not allow a hit through his first 87 pitches but a home run by Will Benson leading off the sixth inning broke up the no-hit bid. Gibson also allowed a two-out double in the sixth. He walked two and struck out six … John King worked two scoreless innings and Ryan Fernandez finished off the win, getting out of a bases-loaded jam.
Key stat: The six-run win was the Cardinals’ largest margin of victory this season. Their last win of five runs was a 7-2 victory over the Red Sox on May 18.
Worth noting: The Cardinals streak of consecutive games with at least one error ended at 12, their longest streak since 1976 … Ryan Loutos spent his eighth day on the active roster and still is looking to make his major-league debut … Michael Siani broke an 0-of-16 slump with a single in the eighth … Zack Thompson pitched five no-hit innings for Memphis on Tuesday night, but he did issue five walks while also striking out five. He lowered his ERA to 1.82.
Looking ahead: The Cardinals will have another chance to get back to the .500 mark in the series finale on Wednesday, which begins at 12:10 p.m. St. Louis time. Andre Pallante, just recalled from Triple A Memphis, will get the start.
Follow Rob Rains on Twitter @RobRains
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