St. Louis Cardinals Win in Extras

It didn’t look like the St. Louis Cardinals would get a chance to win their series with the Cincinnati Reds, but home run power prevailed in the end.

St. Louis used homers to force extra innings and win in extras as the Cardinals won 7-5 on Sunday at Great American Ballpark. The win gave St. Louis (3-2) its first series victory of the season, following a split with the Chicago Cubs.

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Here are some of the highlights:

*Jhonny Peralta forced extra innings when he tied the game in the ninth inning after a home run, and Matt Carpenter‘s two-run bomb won it in the top of the 11th inning. They were the only two homers of the day, but they were huge blasts for a Cardinal offense that has been power-starved at times.

*Kolten Wong looks like he’s shaken off some of the rust from his spring training outings. His two hits Sunday gave Wong a .294 average for the season. At this time last year, Wong was so shaky that a trip to the minor leagues was in the calling.

*Carlos Martinez looked really good in his first starting outing of the year. Martinez, who won the No. 5 starter job when Jaime Garcia‘s shoulder flared up again, struck out eight batters in six innings of work. He didn’t pick up the decision, but it was still a good way to begin the year.

*Carlos Villanueva was a little shaky in relief, as he walked three and struck out three, but Villanueva still got the win.

All told, the Cardinals looked decent in this series following a disappointing loss to start the set on Friday.

St. Louis returns to Busch Stadium on Monday to start a three-game set with the Milwaukee Brewers, and Adam Wainwright pitches the home opener. Come back to Redbird Rants for a series preview and follow our solid coverage all season.