Cardinals rally in the sixth; beat Reds 8-to-5 on Friday

In what started out as a slow and scary part for manager Mike Matheny and his defending world-champions in the first-inning; the team knew exactly what needed to be done in the opener of this three game series; as well as the start of a huge ten-game road trip that could determine the fate of the season--and that was a win.

Following two runs from the first-place Cincinnati Reds and one more in each of the first three innings of baseball, the Reds lead the game 4-to-1 and had starting pitcher Mat Latos cruising along--but as the Cardinals finished the game with an 8-to-5 win, you can tell it just wasn't enough.

Allen Craig started the six-inning, six-run rally when he homered deep to center field in a long bomb that drove in both Carlos Beltran and Matt Holliday. Craig's deep bomb was his nineteenth on the season--and was his 68th overall RBI on the season.

Just three pitches later, Yadier Molina hit his career-high seventeenth home run of the season--having the Cardinals' hit back-to-back bombs to put them ahead for good eventually as it gave them a 6-to-5 lead. Later on in the inning, Rafael Furcal had an RBI single that drove in David Freese--following a sacrifice fly from Matt Carpenter to drive in Schumaker--which ended the games' scoring on the night at 8-to-5 Cardinals.

The Reds got RBIs' from Brandon Phillips (65), Todd Fraizer (59), Scott Rolen (31) and Ryan Hanigan (17). The Reds left thirteen runners on base while the Cardinals left just seven on for the game.

Lance Lynn had one of his shortest outing of this season--but the bullpen did an amazing job to help lead the Cardinals to victory. Lynn lasted just two-innings as he gave up four runs on six hits--but got a no-decision as Joe Kelly relieved him out of the bullpen--leading him to receive the win to improve to (4-5). The bullpen pitched seven innings on the night, giving up just one run on six-hits--and leading to closer Jason Motte picking up his 30th save on the season.

As for the Reds, Mat Latos pitched five innings in a game in which recieved the loss--as he gave up seven runs on nine hits and inflated his overall ERA to 3.84 on the season. Simon and LeCure came in from the Reds' bullpen on the night--as they gave up one run on five hits.

The win brings the Cardinals to within six games of the National League Central division lead; and with the Pittsburgh Pirates losing again tonight, they gained a game on them with results pending on the Los Angeles Dodgers final results. Tomorrow, the two teams will battle it out for game two of this pivotal three game series at 3:05 pm Central Time on FOX, which will be regionally televised depending on where you live.