Spencer Steer hit two home runs in a row and drove in five runs, and Elly De La Cruz added his team-leading 21st homer as the Cincinnati Reds defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 6-1 on Monday night.
Andrew Abbott (10-9) gave up one run and five hits over 6 2/3 innings, ending his three-game losing streak. The left-hander had previously allowed 12 earned runs in his last 13 1/3 innings.
“I was spinning the ball and getting first-pitch strikes,” Abbott said. “It was all mental between this start and last start. I went out there with a plan and tried to execute the best way you can.”
Cardinals starter Sonny Gray (11-7) struck out nine in five innings but has not won in three career starts against his former team. He allowed six runs and five hits, including three home runs.
“He was electric first time through,” St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol said. “Punched out, what, seven? He was executing pitches. He was doing what he wanted. But a couple good swings by Steer and De La Cruz.”
Abbott retired 11 batters in a row during one stretch and finished with six strikeouts. He managed to get out of bases-loaded situations in the second and third innings.
“That’s the difference,” Marmol said. “We’re going to have to do a better job with runners in scoring position. That’s the key for ourselves moving forward.”
Steer and De La Cruz hit back-to-back home runs on consecutive pitches from Gray to give Cincinnati a 3-1 lead in the third inning. It was the fifth time this season that the Reds hit consecutive homers.
Steer, who batted leadoff for the third time this year and the fifth time in his career, hit another home run in the fifth inning for three runs, making it 6-1.
“It is fun to move around,” Steer said. “Batting leadoff is great. It’s a great opportunity to get that first at-bat for the team and set the tone. That’s the way I look at it, at least. It’s a tone setter for the rest of the game.”
It was Steer’s first career game with multiple home runs. He has 18 home runs this season.
“He’s just a good ballplayer,” Reds manager David Bell said. “Leading off kind of just put him out there. He came up with a big game.”
