CINCINNATI — The bad news for the Cardinals on Wednesday night was that they gave up five home runs as the Reds completed the sweep of their three-game series in Cincinnati.
The worse news is that the Cardinals, now riding a four-game losing streak and under .500 for the year, come home to face a gauntlet of opponents that begins with the Dodgers and NL Central-leading Brewers.
The tone for the latest loss was set early, when the Reds hit their first two home runs in a four-run third inning off Kyle Gibson.
That followed similar results in the first two games of the series as the Cardinals never led after any of the 27 innings between the two teams, were outhomered 10-1 and outscored 19-4.
The series sweep let the Reds pull into a tie with the Cardinals, who are closer to last place in the division than they are to first.
Here is how Wednesday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: One inning that was typical of the Cardinals offensive struggles in the series came in the fifth, when Brendan Donovan led off with a double and never left second base. Paul Goldschmidt grounded out, Lars Nootbaar struck out and after Tommy Pham was hit by a pitch, Victor Scott II struck out … The Cardinals got some batted-ball luck on bloops and grounders that snuck through the infield to score both of their runs in the sixth, but they had runners on first and second with no outs and the two runs in before three consecutive outs … Jordan Walker, not in the starting lineup for the second consecutive game, hit for Nootbaar when the Reds brought in a lefthander and popped out on the first pitch.
On the mound: Four of the Reds homers came off starter Kyle Gibson, tying his career high. Jonathan India and T.J. Friedl each homered twice … Seven of the Reds runs were charged to Gibson, equaling the most he has allowed in a game this season … Gibson is now 0-2 with four no-decisions in his last six starts dating back to July 7.
Key stat: The Cardinals are now 4-9 in August and 10-15 since the All-Star break. They have been outscored 70-42 in their 13 games this month.
Worth noting: At 60-61, the Cardinals are below .500 for the first time since they were 36-37 on June 19 … Walker stayed in the game after pinch-hitting and later got his first hit since being recalled from Memphis, an infield single … Goldschmidt was 2-of-12 in the series … Top prospect Tink Hence pitched four scoreless innings on Wednesday night for Springfield, allowing just one hit with no walks and six strikeouts.
Looking ahead: After a day off on Thursday, the Cardinals will host the first-place Dodgers over the weekend at Busch Stadium. Miles Mikolas is the scheduled starter in the opener.