Lights-out pitching fuels Reds to victory over Cards

ST. LOUIS — A milestone home run from Jay Bruce and some fine pitching from Anthony DeSclafani and the back end of the bullpen added up to something rare for the Reds Wednesday: a series win in the shadow of the Gateway Arch.

Bruce’s home run produced the only run in the Reds’ 1-0 victory Wednesday night before a crowd of 42,334 at Busch Stadium. The Reds took two in a row for the series win.

Box score: Reds 1, Cardinals 0

Rookie right-hander DeSclafani, J.J. Hoover and Aroldis Chapman made Bruce’s home run stand up for the win. The Reds shut the Cardinals out in the last 22 innings of the series. It was the first set of consecutive shutouts for the Reds this season.

It was only the fourth time the Reds won a series in St. Louis since May 2003 – and the first time since September 2011. They are 4-29-2 in series here since May of ‘03 and had lost nine consecutive series coming in.

Tuesday and Wednesday's victories marked the first time the Reds won consecutive games in St. Louis since July 6 and Sept. 2, 2011.

The Reds are out of the race, but the winning in St. Louis was sweet.

“I’ll tell you this: I came in after the game, and I haven’t heard that clubhouse sound that jovial and happy ...” Reds manager Bryan Price said. “It’s coming here and playing a good series. When you leave here and you don’t win – it’s a division team – and it’s a team that’s had our number and has gone further than us in the playoffs when we got there.

“We’ve sat home watching them. Nobody likes to do that. To come here and play good baseball against the Cardinals still means something.”

Bruce took time after the game to address the fact that he's been the subject of trade rumors as the deadline approaches. He reiterated he wants to remain a Red.

“You try your best to be professional and not let any of that bother you,” he said. “But you hear the rumblings. You hear what people say. But I’m on the Reds. I'm here to help these guys win games. I know that sounds cliche.

“This is all I know. I have confidence in this organization. I look forward to see what the future holds.”

DeSclafani went seven shutout innings. He allowed three hits, walked three and struck out three. It was his second straight seven-inning outing after he gave up six runs on eight hits over five innings in a 9-4 loss to Cleveland.

“I threw a good mix of pitches,” DeSclafani said. “I was working well with (Brayan) Pena. I threw my breaking ball a little more. That made a difference.”

He needed to be that good, too: St. Louis right-hander John Lackey went eight innings and allowed one run on two hits. He walked one and struck out eight.

“Six hits in the whole game?” Bruce said. “It’s not often one run is going to decide a game here against this team. I can’t say enough about Anthony (DeSclafani).”

Bruce gave the Reds the lead in the second with a towering shot to straightaway center for his 17th home run of the year. It was the 199th of Bruce's career and broke a tie with Barry Larkin for ninth on the Reds' all-time list.

“The significance lies in the fact I passed a Hall of Famer,” Bruce said. “Not only a Reds Hall of Famer, an actual Hall of Famer. He’s one of the best to ever play the game. It’s crazy I’m mentioned in conversation with these guys. I look forward to passing a lot more guys.”

Bruce is four homers away from tying Eric Davis for eighth on the list.

The Reds have won two 1-0 games on the road this year – both thanks to Bruce home runs.

The only other hit the Reds had off Lackey was Billy Hamilton’s one-out bunt single in the third. After Hamilton’s hit, Lackey retired 17 of the 18 batters he faced next.

DeSclafani allowed a base-runner with one out in each of the first five innings, but he escaped damage each time. He changed it up by allowing a runner with two outs in the sixth but again escaped.

“I’ve learned that you’ve got to keep the consistent mentality,” DeSclafani said. “There were times where I felt like I was stressing a little too much and worrying about mechanics and rolling into outings. Whatever happens in the game, let it go.”

The escape in the first may have been costly for the Cardinals. Matt Carpenter walked with one out. Matt Holliday followed with a ground ball to third. Todd Frazier threw to second to force Carpenter. Holliday would have easily beaten Brandon Phillips’ relay to first, but Holliday pulled up hurt. It went for a 5-4-3 double play.

It was later announced that Holliday had suffered a strained right quadriceps, an injury that forced him to miss 31 games earlier in the year.

DeSclafani did not have a perfect inning until the seventh, but his pitch count was only at 90 thanks to two double plays.

The Reds, however, lifted him for a pinch-hitter in the eighth.

Hoover took over and gave up a two-out double to Carpenter after getting ahead 1-2. He got Holliday’s replacement, Mark Reynolds, to ground into an out.