ST. LOUIS _ Bad as it was, it only counts one game.
Before the Cardinals came up with their first hit Monday night at Busch Stadium, visiting Cincinnati had 15 hits and 10 runs. The Reds cruised to a 15-2 win before a crowd of 34,942.
Monday's crowd snapped a string of 240 consecutive games with 40,000 or more. The last sub-40,000 crowd to see a game at Busch was Sept. 24, 2013.
The Cardinals fell to 33-42 at home and to 81-75 overall. They are one game back of both the New York Mets and San Francisco Giants in the race for the two NL wild-card spots.
The Mets lost 7-3 to the Marlins in Miami on Monday; the Giants were idle.
The Reds pounded out 22 hits against the Cardinals on Monday as Adam Duvall hit a pair of homers and drove in five. Duvall, who went 4 for 6 with four runs scored, had a solo blast in the first, a run-scoring single in the fourth, a three-run shot in the fifth and a single in the seventh.
Joey Votto (two hits) and Steve Selsky (five hits, four three RBIs) also homered for Cincinnati, which received a four-hit game from Brandon Phillips (two RBIs) and a three-hit effort from Tucker Barnhart (one RBI).
Right-hander Tim Adleman (3-4) allowed four hits and two runs over seven innings for the win.
Jaime Garcia's return to the rotation was short-lived. He lasted just one inning _ allowing back-to-back homers to Votto and Duvall _ before being lifted for Michael Wacha. The loss dropped Garcia's season record 10-13.
The Cardinals managed just six hits in the loss. Yadier Molina and Jedd Gyorko drove in the St. Louis runs.
