Nick Lodolo returned from the injured list and pitched 5 1/3 innings, giving up only one run. Jeimer Candelario hit a home run, and the Cincinnati Reds won their fourth game in a row, beating the St. Louis Cardinals 3-1 on Monday.
Lodolo had been dealing with a groin injury and missed his last two starts. He allowed a home run to Paul Goldschmidt in the first inning but didn’t run into any other problems against the Cardinals. The 26-year-old left-handed pitcher gave up five hits, struck out three, and didn’t walk any batters.
“Nick was feeling good with his fastball today,” said Cincinnati manager David Bell. “He got ahead in the count, reached two strikes, and mostly stuck with his fastball. It was great to see him back on the mound.”
Reliever Fernando Cruz struck out all five batters he faced in the sixth and seventh innings. Sam Moll struck out two more Cardinals in the eighth, and Lucas Sims closed out the game in the ninth inning, earning his first save by striking out Alec Burleson and Paul Goldschmidt and getting Nolan Arenado to pop out.
Sims replaced the regular closer, Alexis Diaz, in the ninth inning to give him a break after pitching in four games in the last week.
Sims didn’t feel any extra pressure in the save situation, despite facing some tough hitters from St. Louis.
“You know, we’re in an important part of our schedule right now, where we are at in the standings, (playing) a divisional foe, riding a three-game win streak,” Sims said. “Being able to slam the door and kind of keep this good thing that we got going, I think that’s more where it came from. Less about the game situation and more about where we are right now as a team.”
The Cardinals got solid pitching from Lance Lynn, who gave up three runs (one earned) and five hits in six innings. He struck out five and walked three.
Candelario hit a home run to right field in the first inning. Cincinnati scored another run on Will Benson’s RBI single in the second inning, and they got one more run when Goldschmidt made an error.
