St. Louis Cardinals fall 1-0 to the Cincinnati Reds

Michael Wacha and Homer Bailey were in a pitching duel last night but the St. Louis Cardinals fell 1-0 to the Cincinnati Reds. They did so in front of a crowd of 20,219 fans–only 48% of the seating capacity.
Sep 3, 2013; Cincinnati, OH, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Michael Wacha (52) pitches during the first inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Great American Ball Park. Image Credit: Frank Victores-USA TODAY Sports
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, Bailey did not live up to his name. In seven innings, the Reds pitcher only allowed two hits all evening–both of which were Matt Carpenter singles. The only other players to reach base were Carlos Beltran, David Freese and Jon Jay. Beltran and Freese reached on walks while Jay was plunked by a 94 m.p.h. fastball.

In 17 games started against the Cardinals, the Reds pitcher owns a 5-9 record with a 4.74 ERA. Unfortunately, he had his A game.

Aroldis Chapman earned his 34th save of the season after getting the heart of the lineup out on strikes: Beltran, Matt Holliday, and Allen Craig.

Following Monday’s lackluster outing by Adam Wainwright, Wacha did everything he needed to do. The rookie pitched six innings, allowing three hits, two walks, and struck out three batters.

“He was very impressive,” Matheny said of Wacha in a MLB.com article. “When you put guys in that kind of situation, you never know how they’re going to react. He stepped up.”

Had he not been coming out of the bullpen lately, he would have gone deeper into the game and maybe, just maybe, Billy Hamilton does not score the winning run after his first career stolen base.

“I felt strong,” Wacha said. “I wasn’t able to stretch it out working out of the bullpen, so I figured the pitch count would come into it. I wasn’t sure what it would be. I had it in my mind that I might go out for the seventh, but I came in and they told me I was done.”

The Pittsburgh Pirates won last night so the loss now puts the Cardinals 2 games back in the division while sitting 1.5 games up in the Wild Card race.