Cardinals rally, hold on to take opening series vs. Reds

CINCINNATI -- The beat-up pitching staff finally came into play for the Reds Thursday.

Homer Bailey, who missed time in spring with a groin strain, wasn't sharp. He only went 4 1/3 innings. That meant relievers, who probably would not have made the team if not for the injuries, pitched in critical stretches.

One of the them, Trevor Bell, gave up three runs without retiring a batter. That was key in the Reds' 7-6 loss to the Cardinals in the rubber game of the series before a crowd of 16,857 at Great American Ball Park.

The offense, quiet in the first two games, did its part. Todd Frazier hit a pair of home runs and drove in four.

"We did some real nice things offensively," Reds manager Bryan Price said. "We just need to keep the score down a little more than we did."

Injuries have hit the pitching staff the hardest. The Reds have three relievers and a starter on the disabled list. That meant Bell, a long shot to make the team, was in the game in a one-run situation in the seventh.

The game was delayed three hours and 42 minutes at the start. That added up to six hours and 22 minutes of rain delays for the first two games of the series.

"This whole series has been weird with the rain and stuff," Frazier said. "It kind of puts a damper on it. You're ready to play at a certain time. What are you going to do? Take a nap. Play cards."

The problem wasn't the start for the Reds. Joey Votto doubled with two outs in the first. Three pitches later, Jay Bruce celebrated his 27th birthday by crushing one to right. It landed about three-quarters of the way up the seats, an estimated shot of 449 feet. Bruce did not hit his first home run until April 22 of last year.

Frazier followed with an even more prodigious blast. It landed about a dozen rows deep into the second-deck bleachers in left. It went an estimated 474 feet, the 12th-longest home run in Great American Ball Park history.

Bailey retired the first five he faced. But he gave up a two-out single to Matt Adams in the second. Jhonny Peralta followed with a line-drive home run down the left field line to make it 3-2.

Every inning was a struggle for Bailey from there. He left bases loaded in the third. The Cardinals tied it in the fourth. Adams doubled, beating the left again. An out later, Jon Jay doubled Adams home to tie it at 3-3. Bailey would not get through the fifth. He walked Kolten Wong with one out. Matt Holliday then shot one just past the diving Frazier. It got into the left field corner. Wong scored on a close play at the plate to give St. Louis a 4-3 lead.

Bailey was lifted after walking Allen Craig. He went 4 1/3 innings and allowed four runs on seven hits. Bailey's problem was command. Forty-two of 93 pitches were balls. He walked three and struck out three.

"For me, missing those 2 1/2 weeks on mound time in spring training came back and bit me today," Bailey said. "You could tell I wasn't as sharp. Lots of pitches missed by an inch or two. I got behind a lot, not typically my game plan. It's the cards we were dealt. I've got five days to get things back in order before we face these guys again."

Nick Christiani came on and got Yadier Molina to line into a double play. The Reds went back to offensive futility after the fast start. They loaded the bases with one out in the third and failed to score. They left runners in scoring position in the second and the fourth.

After his rough start, right-hander Lance Lynn pitched well. He went five innings and allowed the three runs on eight hits. He walked one and struck out seven.

Bell made his Reds debut in the seventh. Ordinarily after a short start by the starter Alfredo Simon would take over and bridge gap from starter to setup men. But Simon's in the rotation because of Mat Latos' injury.

"Until we have Simon back in the bullpen, we don't have a true length guy," Price said. "It will be nice to be whole that regard."

Price wanted to stay away from Sam LeCure, who hasn't pitched this season. LeCure has gotten up to get ready every game. He was up twice Wednesday.

So the seventh was Bell's. He walked the first two batters he faced. Then came the odd play of the game. Holliday hit a long shot to right-center. Billy Hamilton made a long run and a leaping attempt at the wall. He came up empty. But Bruce caught the carom. The play was reviewed and the call upheld after two minutes, eight seconds.

"It was not a challenge," Price said. "I thought it was a great job by the umpiring crew to decide to review the play before there was ever a challenge. What I saw was a ball that appeared to go off Billy's glove that was caught by Jay and was signaled an out by the umpire on first base, right field line.

"We thought we had an out there. We thought we had a double play. What ended up happening was one umpire ruled out, one umpire ruled safe. There was a little bit of discrepancy there. Gary Cederstrom, the crew chief, decided to review the play without my request, just because they wanted to get the play right.

"They got the right call by the of things."

It went as a long single. That was it for Bell. Logan Ondrusek came in. He gave up back-to-back RBI singles against the drawn-in infield. He got two outs, but another run scored on a wild pitch to make it 7-3. It looked like it was over at that point, but the Reds showed some in seventh.

Votto walked – the fourth time he was on base on the day – and Bruce followed with a single. Frazier went opposite field this time, hitting just out to right. It was his fourth career two-home run game.

"We showed signs that we've got a team that can hit," Frazier said. "We've got a team that puts runs up. The pitching has always been there. We've just got to finish."

John Fay writes for the Cincinnati Enquirer.