Field Level Media
Jul 20, 2019
Josh VanMeter hit his first major league home run to help lift the Cincinnati Reds to a 3-2 win against the visiting St. Louis Cardinals in the third game of the four-game series on Saturday night.
VanMeter, who has played sporadically since making his major league debut on May 5, broke a 1-1 tie with a two-run homer in the seventh inning.
Eugenio Suarez had two hits and two walks for the Reds, who ended a four-game losing streak.
Reds starter Luis Castillo allowed a run and five hits in six innings. He struck out four and walked one before getting lifted for a pinch-hitter after throwing 88 pitches.
Amir Garrett (4-1) came off the 10-day injured list (side) and pitched a scoreless seventh for the Reds.
Michael Lorenzen gave up a run in the eighth before pitching the ninth for his sixth save.
St. Louis starter Miles Mikolas (6-10) was coming off a complete-game shutout against the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday and didn't allow a run through the first six innings before the Reds scored three in the seventh before he could record an out.
Mikolas allowed six hits, struck out four and walked two.
Matt Wieters hit a solo homer and Tommy Edman had three hits for the Cardinals.
Castillo shut out the Cardinals on three hits through the first five innings before Wieters led off the sixth by hitting a full-count fastball over the fence in right-center field for a 1-0 lead.
Mikolas followed with a double, but Reds shortstop Jose Iglesias saved a base hit when he ran down and backhanded Edman's looper to shallow left, and Castillo avoided further damage.
Mikolas' streak of 15 straight shutout innings ended in the seventh when Suarez walked and Yasiel Puig followed with a line-drive double into the left-center field gap, scoring Suarez to tie it at 1-1.
VanMeter then came up and lined a fastball over the fence in right for a 3-1 lead.
The Cardinals cut it to 3-2 in the eighth on a walk, double by Edman and run-scoring ground out by Jose Martinez.
--Field Level Media