Cincinnati Avoids Sweep, Win Wild One 9-8

After scoring just one run total in the first two games of the series against St. Louis (47-41), the Reds (44-44) offense unleashed a barrage of runs on Wednesday.  Dusty Baker's squad jumped out to a 5-0 lead before the Cardinals could even take a turn at bat and went on to pick off their rivals 9-8 at Busch Stadium.

Jay Bruce
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Leadoff hitter Chris Heisey set the tone early for Cincinnati when he jumped all over the first pitch of the game and sent it beyond the left field wall for a solo home run.  Brandon Phillips would later add a two-run triple while Jay Bruce would blast a two-run home run -- all coming before Cards starter Jake Westbrook (7-5) could even record an out.

After being knocked around in his last start, Bronson Arroyo (8-7) turned in a slightly better one on Wednesday when he held the Cardinals to five runs and six hits in 6 1/3 innings of work.

The wheels came off in the bottom of the seventh, however, as the Redbirds broke through for five runs in the inning -- coming off the collection of Arroyo, and relievers Bill Bray and Logan Ondrusek.  Jon Jay would later hit a game-tying homer in the bottom of the ninth off Francisco Cordero to force extra frames. 

Luckily for the Reds they managed to avoid a collapse of monumental proportion when Ramon Hernandez doubled in the go-ahead run in the 13th.  Aroldis Chapman recorded the final three outs in the bottom half of the inning to earn his first career major league save.

Joey Votto and the Redlegs now shift their attention to the Milwaukee Brewers for a 4-game series at Miller Park beginning Thursday.  You can find a preview for that series here. 

Notables:
-Despite the victory, the Reds are now 0-12-1 in their last 13 series' against the Cardinals in St. Louis (31-13 overall).
-Heisey's homer on the first pitch of the game is the first occurence of such an event in MLB this season.
-Albert Pujols went 1-6 with an RBI in his return from the DL.
-The Hard Hat. Jay Bruce (2-5, 2B, HR, BB, 2 RBI's, RS).