ST. LOUIS _ St. Louis' offense was missing again as it dropped the final game in its series with Cincinnati, 8-0.
Sunday's contest saw St. Louis rack up just six hits _ five singles _ against Cincinnati pitching. Reds starter Scott Feldman held the Cardinals in check for much of the game, going six-plus innings and allowing no runs on four hits while striking out six and walking one.
"Coming off a good one (Saturday), I was hoping that would be the key to spark a good long roll," manager Mike Matheny said after Sunday's game. "But we just had trouble getting anything going."
In three of their first six games this season, the Cardinals have scored one or fewer runs, including two shut outs against the Reds.
The closest St. Louis came to scoring was during an opportunity in the seventh inning, when the Cardinals got two men on with nobody out thanks to a Matt Carpenter walk and Matt Adams single.
But Yadier Molina grounded into a double play, with Reds third baseman Eugenio Suarez picking out a tough hop to turn two. Jhonny Peralta grounded out to end the inning.
On the bump, Carlos Martinez could not build off his strong Opening-Day start, in which he threw 7 1/3 scoreless innings and received a no decision. Martinez gave up an early home run to Adam Duvall in the second inning and appeared to settle down thereafter, but a four-run sixth inning from the Reds _ who were helped out by three Cardinals errors _ broke open the game.
Meanwhile, the bullpen had a somewhat better performance, but continued to be plagued by the long ball.
St. Louis' relievers have now given up six home runs in six games, thanks to a Joey Votto solo home run off Seung-hwan Oh in the top of the ninth. Oh was pitching in his first game since opening night last week when he threw a career-high 38 pitches.
"I think just giving up walks, giving up free bases, giving up hard hit balls, all of those are concerning, but we know we have a good bullpen," Matheny said. "Just a lot like our offense, just gotta get something positive rolling."
Adam Duvall was the big performer for Cincinnati on Sunday. The young left fielder went 3-for-4 with a home run, two RBIs and a walk in the finale.
"Every team is beatable in this league on any particular night," Matheny said. "When we can't get anything going offensively it doesn't matter who we play."
Next up, St. Louis will travel to Washington for a three-game series with the Nationals beginning Monday night.
