ST. LOUIS (AP) — Eugenio Suárez hit a two-run homer, Rhett Lowder pitched two-run ball for five innings and the Cincinnati Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-2 on Friday night.
Suárez’s 435-foot shot to left-center tied him with Eric Davis for 10th in franchise history with 203 home runs. Johnny Bench hit 389 homers for the Reds.
Cincinnati’s Sal Stewart and Tyler Stephenson each had two hits and an RBI.
Lowder was perfect through three innings and, after JJ Wetherholt walked, had faced the minimum number of batters after four innings.
Iván Herrera was hit by a pitch to leadoff the fifth, stole second and moved to third when Lars Nootbaar flied out. Masyn Wynn grounded out and Nathan Church walked before Blaze Jordan doubled to give the Cardinals a 2-1 lead.
After Stewart singled, Suárez hit his homer off George Soriano (3-3) with two out in the seventh, giving Cincinnati a 3-2 lead.
Julian Garcia (1-2) struck out the only batter he faced and earned the win. Emilio Pagán had two strikeouts in a 1-2-3 ninth for his 10th save.
St. Louis starter Dustin May allowed seven hits and one run with eight strikeouts in six innings.
Stephenson hit a ground-rule double that drove in JJ Bleday to give the Reds a 1-0 lead in the fourth.
The Reds are 7-22 against the rest of the NL Central. Cincinnati went into the game with a .214 win percentage against its division, the worst in MLB.
Up next
Reds RHP Hunter Greene (2-1, 6.06 ERA) starts Saturday against right-hander Andre Pallante (10-6, 4.02).
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