ST. LOUIS (AP) — TJ Friedl hit a tiebreaking triple in the seventh inning and Tommy Pham added a solo homer as the Cincinnati Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-6 Sunday to snap a four-game losing streak.
Nolan Arenado and Juan Yepez homered for the Cardinals, who have lost four of six.
Friedl broke a 4-4 tie with a long drive to right field and Albert Almora Jr. followed with a sacrifice fly. Pham homered against his former team in the eighth.
The Reds have fashioned an 18-16 record after a dismal 3-23 start to the season. They failed to win any of their first eight series.
The Reds trailed 3-0 after Arenado hit his 11th homer of the season, a two-run drive in the third.
Jeff Hoffman (1-0) picked up the win with 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. Alexis Diaz posted his second save.
Dakota Hudson (4-3) allowed six runs on nine hits over seven innings. He entered the game with a 6-0 lifetime record against Cincinnati.
Albert Pujols hit an RBI double in the St. Louis that made it 4-all.
Yepez hit a two-run, two-out homer in the ninth. Diaz then struck out Pujols to end the game.
MESSAGE RECEIVED
St. Louis outfielder Harrison Bader was back in the starting lineup after being benched by manager Oliver Marmol in the middle of Saturday’s game for failing to run out a flyball.
“Sometimes you’ve just got to get slapped on the wrist and understand that there’s a certain standard for this clubhouse," Bader said. “The way I handled that flyball was not to the full effort of my capabilities.”
Marmol spoke with Bader after Saturday’s game and said that Bader understood his mistake.
THE MACHINE KEEPS ROLLING
Pujols appeared in his 1,738th game for the Cardinals tying him with Curt Flood for seventh all-time in franchise history.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Reds: INF Jonathan India continues a rehab stint in Triple-A Louisville that began on Tuesday, He has been on the injury list twice since May 1 with a right hamstring strain.
Cardinals: INF Paul Goldschmidt was given the day off. Goldschmidt had a 46-game on-base streak snapped on Saturday.
UP NEXT
Reds: LHP Mike Minor (0-2, 8.64) will start in Phoenix on Monday in the first of a three-game series against the Diamondbacks .Minor is making his third start after beginning the season on the injured list with a left shoulder strain.
Cardinals: LHP Zack Thompson (0-0, 2.25) will make the first start of her career on Monday. He will face Pittsburgh RHP Mitch Keller (2-5, 5.26) in the first of a four-game series against the Pirates in St. Louis.
