Brandon Drury’s attempt at a game-tying ninth-inning grand slam missed by a few feet as the St. Louis Cardinals cruised to a 7-3 win over the Cincinnati Reds.

Final	R	H	E
Cincinnati Reds (34-56)	3	ten	0
Cardinals of St. Louis (49-44)	seven	8	0
F: Pallant (3-4) L: Greene (3-11) SV: Helsley (8)
Dissemination of statistics | Box score | Thread of the game

The game was tied 3-3 after four innings, but the Reds pitchers – who walked eight batters in the game – allowed four runs over the final five innings. The St. Louis relievers held Cincinnati scoreless after the fourth inning — despite such a tight effort from the Reds on an incredible ninth-inning comeback.

Trailing by four entering the ninth, the Reds started with back-to-back hits from Donovan Solano and pinched hitter Tyler Stephenson off left-handed reliever Genesis Cabrera. He was replaced by right-hander Ryan Helsley, who allowed a single to Nick Senzel to load the bases without anyone. Pinched hitter Max Schrock hit a medium-deep left-field fly, on which lead runner Solano stayed in third place instead of scoring and trying to score. Jonathan India then hit swinging, followed by Drury who threw a long fly that was caught just feet in front of the 400-foot center field wall by Dylan Carlson to end the game.

The offense

India started the game with a single on the opposite court, and Drury followed with a bloop double over St. Louis first baseman Paul Goldschmidt. Both Tommy Pham and Joey Votto then retired, but “Farm” hit a big two-man hit:

Kyle Farmer produces a pair of early runs for the @Reds! pic.twitter.com/88YfrWSjOs

— Bally Sports Cincinnati (@BallySportsCIN) July 16, 2022

The first-inning hits extended India’s and Drury’s hitting streaks to six and eight, respectively.

With two out in the third inning and Pham at second base after a wild pitch, Votto bounced a single from opposite field on the left to score Pham to tie the game at 3-3.

Solano and Senzel hit two hits apiece on the night to lead Cincinnati.

The pitch

After the offense gave him a 2-0 lead in the top of the first, starter Hunter Greene struggled. An initial bloop hit was followed by consecutive walks, charging the bases with no exits. St. Louis capitalized with two sacrificial long flies to tie the game at 2-2 after one inning and 36 pitches from Greene.

Later solo home runs by Dylan Carlson and Nolan Gorman gave the Cardinals a 4-3 lead after four innings.

Greene’s night ended after five innings and 106 pitches, including 71 strikes. It’s a good strike ratio, but Greene’s main problem at this point remains that he leaves both fastballs and sliders in large sweet spots near the middle of the plate.

Greene was trailed by Buck Farmer in the bottom of the sixth. The only out he recorded in a third inning was a ball lined out on the right field wall by the first batter he faced:

Testing Tyler Naquin is a cardinal sin. pic.twitter.com/IdoTQQxjlC

— Bally Sports Cincinnati (@BallySportsCIN) July 16, 2022

Two walks and a single later, it was 5-3 Cardinals, and Joel Kuhnel was set to replace Farmer. Kuhnel walked the first batter he faced, .160-hit Austin Romine, to load the bases. But Kuhnel avoided further damage by inducing a double ground play from Tommy Edman.

In the seventh, Ian Gibaut walked the first two men he faced, then pushed them back in second and third. After getting Nolan Arenado on a three-called strike, Brendan Donovan curled a left-hand single to score a deuce and put the home side ahead 7-3. Of the six men Gibaut faced, he threw a first pitch at five.

Dauri Moreta kicked a scoreless eighth.

For the second straight game, Reds pitchers walked eight batters. It’s part of the long list of problems that this team hasn’t been able to solve in 90 games.

The next step for the Cincinnati Reds

Cincinnati Reds vs. St. Louis Cardinals

Saturday, July 16, 2:15 p.m. ET

Nick Lodolo (2-2, 4.44 ERA) vs. Miles Mikolas (6-7, 2.62 ERA)