ST. LOUIS _ The Cardinals and Reds played a tightly contested, back-and-forth affair Sunday afternoon, but ultimately the Cardinals ended up on the short end of the stick.
After blowing a 4-0 lead, the Cardinals could not rally in the ninth to earn their second walk-off in three games and fell to the Reds 5-4. Second baseman Kolten Wong started off the ninth with a lead-off single, and eventually reached third base, but the Cardinals could not bring him around to score.
"Tough loss today," manager Mike Matheny said succinctly.
The loss dropped the Cardinals back to .500 at 12-12.
The game started off well for the Cardinals, as they quickly got on the board with a run in the first inning. Matt Carpenter scored from third base on a Bronson Arroyo wild pitch.
From then on, Mike Leake was in almost total control. Through five innings, he allowed the Reds to get some opportunities, but didn't give up a run.
The Cardinals also tacked on three runs in the bottom of the fifth to increase their lead to 4-0. Matt Carpenter was in the middle of it all once again, as he wiped the bases clean with a three-run double. There was opportunity for more from the Cardinals, as Carpenter's double came with no outs, but they weren't able to cash in.
"You get down and all of a sudden you realize the value of that fifth run," Matheny said. "That's an interesting thing, when you have first and third with nobody out, because you don't necessarily want to stay still and give them the double play, but there's just as likely to get out of the inning without more. Ideally we'd like to get the run in there."
In the sixth inning, Leake cracked a bit. After a leadoff double from left fielder Adam Duvall, Leake gave up an RBI single to right fielder Scott Schebler. Leake was on the verge of letting the Reds right back into the game but escaped when pinch hitter Scooter Gennett flew out to center field with two men on and two out.
The Cardinals bullpen then let the Reds back into the game after Leake departed. In the seventh inning, Matt Bowman and Brett Cecil combined to give up three runs as the Reds tied it at 4. Adam Duvall, Eugenio Suarez and Schebler strung together three consecutive RBI hits.
Then in the eighth, Trevor Rosenthal gave up a run and the lead. Joey Votto had an RBI single to give Cincinnati a 5-4 advantage.
"We had it set up how we want it," Matheny said. "Those guys have been really good and looking at what Rosenthal's been able to do lately in getting the ball to Oh, we're just gonna have those days sometimes."
Jonathan Broxton worked a scoreless ninth, getting some help after the Reds ran out of a first-and-third, one-out situation. In the bottom of the ninth, Reds reliever Raisel Iglesias shut the door for his fourth save of the year.
The Cardinals will begin a four-game home series against the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday. First pitch is scheduled for 7:15 p.m.
