Votto, Duvall lead Reds over Cardinals
Slumping outfielder raises batting average 33 points in win.
Cincinnati rallied to defeat St. Louis on Sunday, 5-4. The struggling Reds had lost eight of their previous nine games.
Adam Duvall is not ST. LOUIS — about to reveal his secret.
The slumping Cincinnati outfielder hit three doubles and a single Sunday, helping the Reds to a 5-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.
Duvall began the day in a 4-for35 skid. He spent several hours working in the indoor batting cage after Saturday’s game was
postponed by rain — and discovered a flaw.
“Let’s just say I corrected it,” Duvall said. “I can’t talk about it, or give details.”
“But, I was seeing the ball great today,” he said.
Duvall tied a career high with four hits and raised his batting average 33 points to .247.
“He had a huge day,” Cincinnati manager Bryan Price said. “There is always that feeling, even in the times when he’s struggling, that the next day he’s going to come in and bust out and do some damage. He just doesn’t concede to the struggles.”
Joey Votto hit a tiebreaking single in the eighth inning for the
Reds, who had lost eight of their previous nine games.
Votto’s bases-loaded sin- gle came off Trevor Rosenthal (0-1). Votto had been 0 for 5 with three strikeouts against the hard-throwing reliever.
“We’ve just got to continue to chug along and get better,” Votto said. “Games like this are how you set a tone.”
Wandy Peralta (1-0) picked up the win by tossing a score- less seventh inning. Closer Raisel Iglesias threw two innings to record his fourth save in as many chances. It was his second two-inning save of the season.
Duvall, Eugenio Suarez and Scott Schebler drove in runs in the three-run seventh to tie the game.
Devin Mesoraco singled sandwiched around walks to Tucker Barnhart and Billy Hamilton to load the bases against Rosenthal in the eighth. Votto followed with a two-strike single up the middle.
“We never stopping fight- ing,” Duvall said. “It was a satisfying win.”
St. Louis starter Mike Leake gave up one run on eight hits over seven innings. He is 0-3 against his former team in six career starts.
“They’ve always been a pesky team,” Leake said. “Every time I face them, it seems like they’re a little more into it.” Rain go away: The Cardinals have had three games postponed due to the rain so far, their most ever in the month of April. Saturday’s contest with Cincinnati was called. No makeup date has been announced.
Trainer’s room
Reds: RHP Homer Bailey will throw a bullpen session on Tuesday. He began the season on the disabled list after undergoing surgery to remove bone chips in his elbow in February.
Cardinals: INF Jhonny Peralta remains on the 10-day disabled list with an adverse reaction to medication taken for a respiratory infection.