SPORTS

Reds can't overcome grand slam deficit in St. Louis

John Fay
jfay@enquirer.com
Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Raisel Iglesias (26) pitches against the St. Louis Cardinals in the first inning.

ST. LOUIS — Reds starter Raisel Iglesias is getting some on-the-job training in the big leagues this year.

Monday’s lesson: Don’t groove a fastball even if the count is 3-2, and the bases are loaded.

Iglesias, the rookie right-hander, went six innings and allowed four runs on six hits in the Reds’ 4-1 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals Monday before a crowd of 42,553 at Busch Stadium.

Iglesias (1-3) walked none and struck out seven. All the damage was done on Kolten Wong’s grand slam in the fourth.

Box score: Cardinals 4, Reds 1

“Every time I go out there and work, I learn something new. I learn a lot every day I pitch,” Iglesias said. “You realize, at this level, that you cannot commit a mistake. Every time you make one mistake, things happen – really fast. I’m learning every day.”

Iglesias threw 95 pitches, 64 for strikes.

It was his third outing since coming off the disabled list (strained oblique). It was his longest game since he went eight innings in his second outing back on May 13.

“After what happened in the fourth inning, I kind of regrouped myself and started thinking of what I needed to do,” Iglesias said. “It gave me the chance to continue to stay in the game and keep my team close in the game and avoiding the Cardinals from continuing to score. That was my goal.”

The Reds had a chance to take a good lead in the third, but they ended up with one run.

Brandon Phillips led off with a single to center. Joey Votto was hit by a pitch, and then Todd Frazier walked to load the bases.

Jay Bruce put up a good at-bat: He lofted the eighth pitch of it to center for a sacrifice fly to make it 1-0.

Brayan Pena, however, hit into a 6-4-3 double play on the next pitch.

“It was the tale of two moments,” Reds manager Bryan Price said. “Their moment was bases loaded, two outs, grand slam. Our moment was bases loaded, no outs, a sacrifice fly, double play.”

Iglesias cruised until the fourth. Yadier Molina doubled, and Stephen Piscotty singled to start the inning. Iglesias got Dan Johnson to pop out, but then hit Pete Bourjos to load the bases.

Iglesias struck out pitcher Lance Lynn but fell behind Wong 3-1. Wong fouled one just out of play and then unloaded on a 92 mph fastball, sending it out to right for his 11th home run and second career grand slam.

“What happened after I gave up the leadoff double to Molina, I tried to be perfect,” Iglesias said. “I tried to not commit any mistakes when having the guy on second. It took me to what happened – load the bases and consequently give up the home run at the end.”

Said Price: “(Wong)  was able to sit on the fastball and take advantage of it. You’ve got to give him credit because Iglesias has good stuff. We got in a situation where we had to throw a predictable pitch to a predictable location. That’s what we did."

Iglesias recovered after the slam. He only allowed one base-runner the rest of the way.

“In these situations with young guys, we’re trying to a find a positive thing when they have an outing like this,” Price said. “The positive is he came back and gave us two scoreless innings. That was our goal after that grand slam — not to lose it mentally. He had to show the ability to rebound.

“That’s going to be one of the big growth parts for Raisel this year: Having to pitch through those tough innings, and then go another time through the lineup. It wasn’t the result we wanted. But he did come back and give two scoreless inning. For him, it’s a step in the right direction. Still, it’s another loss.”

The Reds got nothing going against Lynn in the fourth, fifth or sixth.

They had a chance to get back into it in the seventh. Pinch-hitter Jason Bourgeois led off with a single, but he was eliminated on Billy Hamilton’s fielder’s choice. After a Phillips groundout, Votto walked.

Lynn and Frazier had quite a battle before Frazier popped out foul to first.