Read More: Lance Berkman (RF – STL), Nick Punto (SS – STL), Ryan Theriot (SS – STL), Yadier Molina (C – STL), Tyler Greene (SS – STL), Travis Wood (P – CIN), Aroldis Chapman (P – CIN), St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds

The St. Louis Cardinals lost their third consecutive game to the Cincinnati Reds Sunday night, falling 1.5 games out of first place in the National League Central behind a struggling Chris Carpenter. Lance Berkman and Yadier Molina homered in the loss, and Tyler Greene, Ryan Theriot, and Nick Punto all doubled as the Cardinals’ late rally couldn’t avert a final score of 9-7. Errors by Albert Pujols and Jon Jay were difficult to overcome, but Carpenter managed to struggle without them despite striking out five against two walks in his six-plus innings of work. 

Travis Wood picked up the win, allowing two solo home runs and nothing much else. Aroldis Chapman continued to struggle, walking four while retiring just one batter to perpetuate the Cardinals’ late rally. His ERA stands at 6.92 after the performance, and Reds fans continue to be concerned about their triple-digits relievers. Former Cardinal Scott Rolen went 2-4 with a triple, and Ramon Hernandez hit his sixth home run of the year. 

CINCINNATI – Francisco Cordero had every reason to believe he would watch the Cincinnati Reds
finish their series sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals from the tranquility of the bullpen yesterday
afternoon.

The Reds, after all, entered the ninth inning with a seven-run lead. How could the closer have
known he would be needed to rescue Cincinnati from another meltdown by Aroldis Chapman while
unwittingly adding another chapter to the increasingly spicy rivalry with the Cardinals?

Cordero retired cleanup hitter Matt Holliday and Reds nemesis Lance Berkman to preserve the
Reds’ 9-7 victory, but that didn’t end the drama.

Cordero’s outing began when he hit Cardinals star Albert Pujols with an 0-and-2 fastball. Backup
St. Louis catcher Gerald Laird, a former teammate of Cordero’s with Texas, took offense and yelled
at Cordero the rest of the game.

“It was the whole inning, really loud,” Reds catcher Ramon Hernandez said. “Everybody was
hearing what he was saying – things you shouldn’t say to anybody. We were trying to play the game
and get an out. We weren’t trying to hit anybody.”

After Cordero struck out Berkman, he turned to the Cardinals dugout and yelled back, punctuated
by some animated gesturing.

“Out of all the guys they have – great hitters and players – Gerald Laird isn’t even playing,”
Cordero said. “And he’s the one yelling at me because I hit Pujols 0-2, (like) I was trying to hit
him.”

It would make no sense for Cordero to hit Pujols intentionally, given the situation. Pujols said
he didn’t believe Cordero tried to hit him, but not all the Cardinals were so sure.

“Our guys took offense to it,” said Joe Pettini, the Cardinals’ acting manager while Tony La
Russa recovers from shingles. “If we’re going to stay in this thing, we’re going to need someone
like Albert in the long haul. A lot of guys got upset, started yelling. I’d yell, too. (But) I
wasn’t yelling at that time.”

Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan responded to Cordero’s yelling by barking back at him, and
other members of both teams joined in. Unlike the fight last August, the hot tempers didn’t result
in anything beyond words.

“They took offense to it, we took offense to it, and the soap opera continues between these
guys,” Pettini said. “It’s always something when you come in here.”

The Reds swept the Cardinals for the first time since 2007 and extended their lead in the
National League Central to 1 games. They did so by defeating ace Chris Carpenter, who’d won his
past 10 decisions against Cincinnati dating to 2006.

Reds starter Travis Wood allowed back-to-back homers to Berkman and Yadier Molina in the second
inning, and then shut out the Cardinals the next four innings.

Hernandez hit his third homer in two days to open the Reds’ scoring in the second. Cincinnati
took the lead in the third and then appeared to have blown the game open with a four-run seventh
inning, highlighted by two-run doubles from Brandon Phillips and Jay Bruce.

That put the Reds ahead 8-2, and Chris Heisey added a solo homer in the eighth.

Then came the ninth, with the suddenly woebegone Chapman. The left-hander with the 100-plus mph
fastball had walked eight batters and allowed six runs while retiring only three batters in his
previous three outings, and he was no better this time.

He walked four of the five batters he faced, and the only out came on a deep fly to center. He
threw only five strikes in 23 pitches.

“It’s sort of disheartening because he has so much talent and he’s such a fine young man,” Reds
manager Dusty Baker said.

Nick Masset replaced Chapman and gave up a two-run double to Nick Punto to make it 9-7 before
Baker summoned Cordero.

Cordero sympathized with Chapman’s control issues.

“You’ve got to be patient with him,” Cordero said. “He’s still really young. He will come out of
it. All I can do is try to make him listen to me.

“I went through some stuff like that when I was young coming up to the majors with the Rangers.
I was a hard thrower, and I was wild, too. It’s just a matter of time. He will get it. It’s all
mental.”

brabinowitz@dispatch.com

 

CINCINNATI – Francisco Cordero had every reason to believe he would watch the Cincinnati Reds
finish their series sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals from the tranquility of the bullpen this
afternoon.

The Reds, after all, entered the ninth inning with a seven-run lead. How could the closer have
known he would be needed to rescue Cincinnati from another meltdown by Aroldis Chapman while
unwittingly adding another chapter to the increasingly spicy rivalry with the Cardinals?

Cordero retired cleanup hitter Matt Holliday and Reds nemesis Lance Berkman to preserve the
Reds’ 9-7 victory, but that didn’t end the drama.

Cordero’s outing began when he hit Cardinals star Albert Pujols with an 0-and-2 fastball. Backup
St. Louis catcher Gerald Laird, a former teammate of Cordero’s with Texas, took offense and yelled
at Cordero the rest of the game.

“It was the whole inning, really loud,” Reds catcher Ramon Hernandez said. “Everybody was
hearing what he was saying – things you shouldn’t say to anybody. We were trying to play the game
and get an out. We weren’t trying to hit anybody.”

After Cordero struck out Berkman, he turned to the Cardinals dugout and yelled back, punctuated
by some animated gesturing.

“Out of all the guys they have – great hitters and players – Gerald Laird isn’t even playing,”
Cordero said. “And he’s the one yelling at me because I hit Pujols 0-2, (like) I was trying to hit
him.”

It would make no sense for Cordero to hit Pujols intentionally, given the situation. Pujols said
he didn’t believe Cordero tried to hit him, but not all the Cardinals were so sure.

“Our guys took offense to it,” said Joe Pettini, the Cardinals’ acting manager while Tony La
Russa recovers from shingles. “If we’re going to stay in this thing, we’re going to need someone
like Albert in the long haul. A lot of guys got upset, started yelling. I’d yell, too. (But) I
wasn’t yelling at that time.”

Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan responded to Cordero’s yelling by barking back at him, and
other members of both teams joined in. Unlike the fight last August, the hot tempers didn’t result
in anything beyond words.

“They took offense to it, we took offense to it, and the soap opera continues between these
guys,” Pettini said. “It’s always something when you come in here.”

The Reds swept the Cardinals for the first time since 2007 and extended their lead in the
National League Central to 1 1/2 games. They did so by defeating ace Chris Carpenter, who’d
won his past 10 decisions against Cincinnati dating to 2006.

Reds starter Travis Wood allowed back-to-back homers to Berkman and Yadier Molina in the second
inning, and then shut out the Cardinals the next four innings.

Hernandez hit his third homer in two days to open the Reds’ scoring in the second. Cincinnati
took the lead in the third and then appeared to have blown the game open with a four-run seventh
inning, highlighted by two-run doubles from Brandon Phillips and Jay Bruce.

That put the Reds ahead 8-2, and Chris Heisey added a solo homer in the eighth.

Then came the ninth, with the suddenly woebegone Chapman. The left-hander with the 100-plus mph
fastball had walked eight batters and allowed six runs while retiring only three batters in his
previous three outings, and he was no better this time.

He walked four of the five batters he faced, and the only out came on a deep fly to center. He
threw only five strikes in 23 pitches.

“It’s sort of disheartening because he has so much talent and he’s such a fine young man,” Reds
manager Dusty Baker said.

Nick Masset replaced Chapman and gave up a two-run double to Nick Punto to make it 9-7 before
Baker summoned Cordero.

Cordero sympathized with Chapman’s control issues.

“You’ve got to be patient with him,” Cordero said. “He’s still really young. He will come out of
it. All I can do is try to make him listen to me.

“I went through some stuff like that when I was young coming up to the majors with the Rangers.
I was a hard thrower, and I was wild, too. It’s just a matter of time. He will get it. It’s all
mental.”

brabinowitz@dispatch.com

Updated May 15, 2011 5:30 PM ET

CINCINNATI (AP)

Brandon Phillips hit a bases-loaded double in the seventh inning Sunday that ended Chris Carpenter’s outing and his five-year streak of beating the Cincinnati Reds, who held on for a 9-7 victory and three-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Reds’ first home sweep of the Cardinals since September 2007 left them alone atop the NL Central, a game and a half ahead.

Carpenter (1-3) hadn’t lost to the Reds since June 6, 2006, winning his last 10 decisions against them. Phillips, despised by the Cardinals for his demeaning remarks last season, got the decisive hit.

Trailing 4-2 in the seventh, the Cardinals intentionally walked National League MVP Joey Votto and let Carpenter face Phillips with the bases loaded. His double made it 6-2 and ended Carpenter’s outing. Jay Bruce followed with a two-run double off Trever Miller.

Left-hander Travis Wood (3-3) gave up back-to-back solo homers by Lance Berkman and Yadier Molina in the second inning, but little else against the NL’s most prolific lineup.

The Reds’ bullpen let most of a 9-2 lead get away.

Aroldis Chapman walked four of the five batters he faced in the ninth, extending his streak of wildness. Nick Masset gave up a two-run double by Ryan Theriot that cut it to 9-5. Francisco Cordero came on with one out and gave up a two-run double to Nick Punto before finishing it off for his seventh save in eight chances.

It ended with a little more drama. After Cordero fanned Berkman to end it, he exchanged words with some of the Cardinals and waved at their dugout before lining up to shake hands with teammates.

Cincinnati’s starting lineup had a combined .211 average against Carpenter, who went 5-0 against the Reds last season and was a big reason for the Cardinals’ 12-6 record against them.

Pitching in a steady rain on a 55-degree afternoon, he lost his hold on a team starting to find its stride. The defending NL Central champions have won nine of their last 11, moving a season-high six games over .500 at 23-17. Cincinnati’s 1 1/2-game lead is its biggest since April 17.

The sweep left the Reds 4-2 against St. Louis this season.

Phillips spiced the rivalry last season by calling the Cardinals whiners, touching off a brawl on Aug. 10. The second baseman came up big during the weekend sweep, driving in three runs during a 7-3 win Saturday and providing the decisive hit a day later.

Ramon Hernandez also homered off Carpenter, who gave up eight runs – seven earned – in 6 1-3 innings. Hernandez hit three solo homers in the last two games of the series.

NOTES: Carpenter’s last loss to the Reds was 7-0 against Eric Milton. … It was the first time the Cardinals got swept this season. … Berkman’s homer snapped an 0-for-15 slump and gave him 22 at Great American Ball Park, the most by any visiting player. … Reds C Ryan Hanigan is sidelined by a sore right hand, hit by a pitch on Friday night. He would have played Sunday if healthy. … Hernandez has six homers, one shy of his total last season. … Chapman threw 18 balls in 23 pitches. He has walked 12 batters in his last four appearances.

Read More: Kyle McClellan (P – STL), Johnny Cueto (P – CIN), Jon Jay (RF – STL), St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds

Jon Jay’s three-run home run was the only bright spot in a dreary game for the St. Louis Cardinals, who watched new starter Kyle McClellan struggle against a potent Cincinnati Reds offense as local antagonist Johnny Cueto threw nearly eight innings to pick up his second win of the season. McClellan allowed four runs on three homers and struck out just one across six innings, stoking fears about his strikeout rate as a starter. Ryan Franklin continued to struggle, allowing two runs of his own across an inning and a third and increasing his ERA to 9.88. Jay, who replaced Lance Berkman in a double switch after McClellan’s exit, drove in rookies Daniel Descalso and Tyler Greene to score the only runs for the Cardinals, who fall to 22-18 on the season, a half-game behind the Reds in the early NL Central playoff hunt. 

In the third and final game of the series the Cardinals will look to get on the board behind Chris Carpenter, who will face young left-hander Travis Wood. Carpenter is 1-2 with a 4.32 ERA, stung by a high batting average on balls in play and some early problems with the home run. Wood is 2-3 despite some excellent peripherals in his first full season as a starter for the Reds. 

Updated May 14, 2011 8:06 PM ET

CINCINNATI (AP)

Johnny Cueto got the better of the team he kicked around the last time they met.

The right-hander took a shutout into the eighth inning on Saturday, and the Cincinnati Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-3, taking over first place with strong showings by the two players who were at the epicenter of their bloody and bruising brawl last season.

The defending NL Central champions moved into first place alone for the first time since April 18 behind Cueto and second baseman Brandon Phillips, who ignited the fight last Aug. 10 with his derogatory comments about the Cardinals.

Phillips drove in three runs with a solo homer, RBI single and sacrifice fly. Ramon Hernandez added a pair of home runs.

Then, the capacity crowd of 41,307 stayed and cheered as Cincinnati’s wishbone ”C” moved ahead of the Cardinals on the standings board above the outfield, reflecting their half-game edge.

Not everyone celebrated or even claimed to notice.

”I didn’t see that,” Phillips said. ”What are we, tied? We’re up a half-game? See, I don’t worry about it. If you keep winning, everything will take care of itself.”

The Reds made sure not to kick the Cardinals when they were down – no gloating or savoring this one more than any other.

”I just wanted to win the game,” Cueto said, through a trainer serving as translator. ”I was throwing my normal game like I pitch to any other team.”

When the Cardinals and Reds get together, it isn’t just any other game. There’s too much history for that.

And now, a little more.

Cueto (2-0) slashed two Cardinals with his cleats during that brawl last season and got a seven-game suspension. He hadn’t faced them since.

The spicy rematch was all Cueto, who didn’t allow a Cardinal to reach second base until Matt Holliday doubled in the seventh. A pair of errors set up Jon Jay’s three-run homer in the eighth. Cueto gave up three hits and fanned five in 7 2-3 innings.

”Mainly, that was the story of the day,” acting Cardinals manager Joe Pettini said. ”We just had a tough day against Cueto.”

Cueto also made the best play of the game, whirling his glove behind his back for a no-look stab at Albert Pujols’ grounder up the middle in the seventh. That out brought a big smile to his face, and he patted his glove in response to a standing ovation from the fans when he left the game in the eighth.

”When he made that catch behind his back, I figured it was probably his day,” Cardinals outfielder Lance Berkman said.

The last time Cueto faced the Cardinals, he got pinned against the backstop during the brawl and furiously kicked catcher Jason LaRue and pitcher Chris Carpenter, later saying he was protecting himself. Cueto stayed in the game and lasted only 5 1-3 innings, giving up five runs in St. Louis’ 8-4 win.

Hernandez homered on each of the first two pitches he saw from Kyle McClellan (5-1), who went six innings and then headed back to Missouri to be with his wife when she delivers the couple’s first child.

The win represented a breakthrough for the Reds, who won the division last season despite going 6-12 against the Cardinals and dropping four of their five series. The Reds have won the first two games of the weekend series, leaving them 3-2 against St. Louis this season.

The Reds have won eight of 10 overall, buoyed by the return of starters Homer Bailey and Cueto. Both had been sidelined by shoulder problems since spring training.

Phillips got the Reds going by leading off the second with his fifth homer. He showing no extra emotion while rounding the bases quickly after ending the Cardinals’ streak of eight games without allowing a homer.

”It felt real good,” Phillips said. ”I was looking for a ball to drive. I was sitting on something real slow and wanted to see what I could do with it.”

Hernandez led off the third with a homer on the first pitch from McClellan. He did the same thing leading off the fifth, connecting on the first pitch for his ninth multihomer game.

Notes: The Reds honored former manager Sparky Anderson before the game, playing a tribute to their late skipper on the video board and giving away statues. … Cardinals SS Ryan Theriot was back after missing two games with sore muscles in his right side. … The Reds activated RH reliever Jose Arredondo and optioned RH Mike Leake to Triple-A Louisville. Arredondo hadn’t pitched in the majors since having reconstructive elbow surgery on Feb. 2, 2010.

CINCINNATI (AP)—Johnny Cueto(notes) got the better of the team he kicked around
the last time they met.

The right-hander took a shutout into the eighth inning on Saturday, and the
Cincinnati Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-3, taking over first place with
strong showings by the two players who were at the epicenter of their bloody and
bruising brawl last season.

The defending NL Central champions moved into first place alone for the
first time since April 18 behind Cueto and second baseman Brandon Phillips(notes), who
ignited the fight last Aug. 10 with his derogatory comments about the Cardinals.

Phillips drove in three runs with a solo homer, RBI single and sacrifice
fly. Ramon Hernandez(notes) added a pair of home runs.

Then, the capacity crowd of 41,307 stayed and cheered as Cincinnati’s
wishbone “C” moved ahead of the Cardinals on the standings board above the
outfield, reflecting their half-game edge.

Not everyone celebrated or even claimed to notice.

“I didn’t see that,” Phillips said. “What are we, tied? We’re up a
half-game? See, I don’t worry about it. If you keep winning, everything will
take care of itself.”

The Reds made sure not to kick the Cardinals when they were down—no
gloating or savoring this one more than any other.

“I just wanted to win the game,” Cueto said, through a trainer serving as
translator. “I was throwing my normal game like I pitch to any other team.”

When the Cardinals and Reds get together, it isn’t just any other game.
There’s too much history for that.

And now, a little more.

Cueto (2-0) slashed two Cardinals with his cleats during that brawl last
season and got a seven-game suspension. He hadn’t faced them since.

The spicy rematch was all Cueto, who didn’t allow a Cardinal to reach second
base until Matt Holliday(notes) doubled in the seventh. A pair of errors set up Jon
Jay’s(notes) three-run homer in the eighth. Cueto gave up three hits and fanned five in
7 2-3 innings.

“Mainly, that was the story of the day,” acting Cardinals manager Joe
Pettini said. “We just had a tough day against Cueto.”

Cueto also made the best play of the game, whirling his glove behind his
back for a no-look stab at Albert Pujols’(notes) grounder up the middle in the seventh.
That out brought a big smile to his face, and he patted his glove in response to
a standing ovation from the fans when he left the game in the eighth.

“When he made that catch behind his back, I figured it was probably his
day,” Cardinals outfielder Lance Berkman(notes) said.

The last time Cueto faced the Cardinals, he got pinned against the backstop
during the brawl and furiously kicked catcher Jason LaRue(notes) and pitcher Chris
Carpenter(notes), later saying he was protecting himself. Cueto stayed in the game and
lasted only 5 1-3 innings, giving up five runs in St. Louis’ 8-4 win.

Hernandez homered on each of the first two pitches he saw from Kyle
McClellan(notes) (5-1), who went six innings and then headed back to Missouri to be
with his wife when she delivers the couple’s first child.

The win represented a breakthrough for the Reds, who won the division last
season despite going 6-12 against the Cardinals and dropping four of their five
series. The Reds have won the first two games of the weekend series, leaving
them 3-2 against St. Louis this season.

The Reds have won eight of 10 overall, buoyed by the return of starters
Homer Bailey(notes) and Cueto. Both had been sidelined by shoulder problems since
spring training.

Phillips got the Reds going by leading off the second with his fifth homer.
He showing no extra emotion while rounding the bases quickly after ending the
Cardinals’ streak of eight games without allowing a homer.

“It felt real good,” Phillips said. “I was looking for a ball to drive. I
was sitting on something real slow and wanted to see what I could do with it.”

Hernandez led off the third with a homer on the first pitch from McClellan.
He did the same thing leading off the fifth, connecting on the first pitch for
his ninth multihomer game.

NOTES: The Reds honored former manager Sparky Anderson before the game,
playing a tribute to their late skipper on the video board and giving away
statues. … Cardinals SS Ryan Theriot(notes) was back after missing two games with
sore muscles in his right side. … The Reds activated RH reliever Jose
Arredondo(notes) and optioned RH Mike Leake(notes) to Triple-A Louisville. Arredondo hadn’t
pitched in the majors since having reconstructive elbow surgery on Feb. 2, 2010.

Read More: Kyle Lohse (P – STL), Matt Holliday (LF – STL), Albert Pujols (1B – STL), Miguel Batista (P – STL), Jason Motte (P – STL), Daniel Descalso (2B – STL), St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals couldn’t hold a 5-2 lead in their first game at Great American Ballpark and the Cincinnati Reds got to Jason Motte in extra innings as the Cardinals’ bullpen coughed up game one of the series to the Reds by a score of 6-5. Albert Pujols and Daniel Descalso had two hits and Matt Holliday went 3-5 in the loss; Kyle Lohse pitched six innings and allowed two runs before being lifted for Miguel Batista in the seventh. 

Batista, who had allowed five unearned runs and just one earned run before Friday, allowed two hits and walked a batter without retiring one before he was removed for Trever Miller, who walked Joey Votto. Fernando Salas, who was outstanding in two no-hit innings, managed to maintain the Cardinals’ lead at 5-4 going into the ninth inning, but Eduardo Sanchez blew the save in the ninth inning and Motte allowed a walk-off hit in the tenth. 

Kyle McClellan and Johnny Cueto will start Saturday afternoon’s game at Cincinnati, while Chris Carpenter and Travis Wood will take the mound for the final game Sunday. 

Joey Votto’s two-out, run-scoring single in the 10th inning completed the Cincinnati Reds’ rally to a 6-5 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night that tightened the NL Central.

With 32,972 fans waving white rally towels and chanting “MVP,” the National League MVP came through against Jason Motte (1-1), driving home Chris Heisey from second base.

The Reds overcame a 5-2 deficit in the late innings. Brandon Phillips’ single off Eduardo Sanchez tied it in the ninth, and Votto kept the Reds perfect in four extra-inning games this season.

Francisco Cordero (3-1) pitched out of a two-on threat in the ninth, striking out Jon Jay to keep it tied.

The defending NL Central champions moved within a half-game of the first-place Cardinals.

The Reds won the NL Central last season despite going 6-12 against St. Louis, the only team in the division that could handle them. They evened their series this season at two games each with a dramatic comeback.

Cincinnati has won seven of its last nine games overall, now that its rotation is complete with Homer Bailey and Johnny Cueto back off the disabled list.

St. Louis has won two of its four games while bench coach Joe Pettini fills in for manager Tony La Russa, who is recovering from shingles. After Kyle Lohse turned a 5-2 lead over to the bullpen in the seventh, Pettini got a workout making pitching changes to try to hold on.

Nothing worked for long.

Edgar Renteria doubled home a pair of runs in the seventh off Miguel Batista, who failed to retire any of the three batters he faced.

The fans waved those white rally towels handed out at the gates when rookie Sanchez came on to try to preserve the one-run lead in the ninth. Sanchez walked Renteria on four pitches and threw a wild pitch. Phillips’ single tied it.

It was the first time in five tries that Sanchez failed to hold a lead in the ninth.

Ramon Hernandez started the winning rally in the 10th with a double. He was caught in a lengthy rundown on Chris Heisey’s grounder, although the outfielder managed to reach second on the play. He scored easily on Votto’s single to right field.

Matt Holliday had three hits for the Cardinals, helping them pull ahead 5-2 and raising his batting average to .398, best in the majors.

The Reds scored both their runs off Lohse in the sixth, when Jay Bruce had an RBI single and scored on Scott Rolen’s double. Rolen was activated from the disabled list before the game, having recovered from a sore left shoulder and neck, and had three hits.

The NL’s most prolific offense scored three times in the fourth inning off Bronson Arroyo, who gave up six hits and three walks in six innings. Holliday doubled home a run, Lance Berkman had a sacrifice fly and Daniel Descalso doubled for another. Descalso also singled home a run in the sixth off Arroyo. Holliday’s RBI single in the seventh made it 5-2.

NOTES: Tyler Greene made his sixth start at SS. Ryan Theriot missed his second game with a sore right side, but Pettini expects him back in the lineup on Saturday. … The Reds optioned infielder Chris Valaika to Triple-A Louisville to open a roster spot for Rolen. … Cueto starts for the Reds on Saturday, the first time he’s faced the Cardinals since the teams got into a brawl last Aug. 10. Cueto got a seven-game suspension for kicking two Cardinals during the fight.

CINCINNATI — The Reds won the NL Central in 2010, and they have the pennant to prove it. But it’s not as if they wrested the title from the defending champion St. Louis Cardinals.

The Cardinals won the season series 12-6. In the much-anticipated series after Brandon Phillips questioned the collective manhood and temperament of the Cards, St. Louis swept Cincinnati, outscoring the Reds 21-8 in the process.

The Cardinals are back in town tonight for the first time since that series, which, of course, included a benches-clearing brawl.

Big series?

“It’s always a big series when we play the Cardinals,” right fielder Jay Bruce said.

One teammate went a little further, calling tonight’s game, “the game of the Gold Medal match.”

He was being facetious, but there’s no doubt the series means a lot to the Reds. First place in the NL Central is on the line, but there’s the matter of the Reds’ recent record against the Cardinals, who took two of three in the season’s first series in St. Louis in April.

“It’s fun to me,” Reds manager Dusty Baker said. “This is what baseball’s all about: Competing against somebody who’s good and trying to get better.”

When the Reds were swept in 2010 in Cincinnati, they faced St. Louis’ top three starting pitchers: Adam Wainwright, Chris Carpenter and Jaime Garcia.

“It’s always important to play well against the Cardinals,” Baker said. “The last two years, we didn’t match up well against the Cardinals. We didn’t match up good with Carpenter. We didn’t match up good with Wainwright. We didn’t match up good with Garcia. That’s what it boiled down to. They were setting their rotation every time.”

Tony LaRussa, the Cardinals manager, will not be in Cincinnati for the series. He is dealing with a case of the shingles. Bench coach Joe Pettini will serve as acting manner.

Baker and LaRussa have faced off 194 times. LaRussa leads 99-95. Baker had a winning record when he was at San Francisco (38-33) and Chicago (37-34), but he is 20-32 since coming to the Reds.

The Cardinals have gotten a huge boost from Lance Berkman, who signed as a free agent in the offseason. Berkman and Albert Pujols are Nos.1 and 2 in opponents’ home runs in Great American Ball Park: Berkman has 21, Pujols has 18.

“I knew Berkman would come back strong,” Baker said. “I said this winter, I’d rather him go someplace else. They’ve got three or four potent bats in that lineup. But good pitching beats good hitting.”

The Reds have been pitching well. The starters are 5-0 with a 1.28 ERA during the past eight games. Largely because of that, the Reds come into the series playing some of their best baseball of the year. They went 4-2 on a road trip to Chicago and Houston.

“We’re starting to play better,” Bruce said. “We just need to keep it up and be consistent. That’s the biggest thing — stay consistent and play solid baseball and we’ll be fine.”

The two games the Reds lost on the road trip were of walk-off fashion.

“I felt like this road trip — Chicago and then Houston — we’ve played well,” center fielder Drew Stubbs said. “I like where we’re at. With the off day, we’ll get some much needed rest and get ready for the Cardinals.”

The series begin a 20-game stretch without an off day.

“It’s against quality teams: the Cardinals, Philly, Cleveland, Atlanta,” Stubbs said. “A lot those teams are in first place or contending for first place. It’s definitely going to be a test for us, having so many games in a row.”

Less than one year ago Lance Berkman was one of the faces of St. Louis Cardinals angst; now he’s the face of a Cardinals offense that has seemed, recently, unable to do wrong, at least for very long. As Berkman returns to Houston for the first time since he was traded to the New York Yankees on July 31, 2010, it’s worth reminding ourselves one final time just how brutal Berkman was to the Cardinals. 

Berkman was a fierce hitter for the Astros—a career line of .286/.410/.549, with 326 home runs and 1090 RBI—but he saved a special venom for the Cardinals, against whom he hit .313/.415/.601. That peaked in 2001, when he hit .381/.466/.667 against them while a promising Cardinals rookie “only” hit .276/.394/.571 against the Astros. But he saved a little for the end of his Cardinal-antagonizing career, too, hitting .421 with a .577 OBP and two of his 14 home runs against St. Louis in 2010. 

If you’re looking for a reason to name Berkman an honorary Cardinal for life, I have one secret to reveal: The team he hit the hardest, slugging nearly .700 against them in 155 games, was none other than the Cincinnati Reds. 

The latest from Rick Hummel offers the St. Louis Cardinals’ position on Albert Pujols’s recent hamstring injury in nice soundbite form: John Mozeliak says the hamstring news leaves Pujols a “day-to-day” or “game-day decision”, and adds that it “does not sound like anything alarming”, which was probably not his exact thought process when Pujols came limping off the field against the Cincinnati Reds. 

Of course, that’s just how it is with Albert Pujols; he’s been wincing, limping, and coming up lame almost continuously since 2003, and it’s rarely serious enough to even occasion his removal from the game he’s begun limping in. Pujols might not be ready for the start of the Houston Astros’ series, but even given the Cardinals’ notorious struggles with estimating injuries—Brad Penny and Troy Glaus come to mind—it would be a surprise to see Pujols miss more than three games with this latest hamstring issue. 

Recent outfield transplant Lance Berkman and rookie first baseman Mark Hamilton are the primary candidates to keep Pujols’s spot warm in the event of an extended absence.