No happy return on Finnegan’s birthday
Cardinals 6, Reds 1 The Cardinals’ Tommy Pham steals third base as the throw arrives way too late to the Reds’ Cliff Pennington.
Finnegan (0-1), who made his season debut. “Everything that can go against us goes against us. We can’t find the big break.”
The Cardinals are heading in the opposite direction, winning a season-high three in a row with an offense that’s finally rounding into form. They’ve scored 24 runs and piled up eight homers — by six different players — during the first three games of the series.
Garcia had a solo homer and a two-run shot off Finnegan. He
came into the game with seven career homers, including only two last season. Garcia also doubled and scored on Tommy Pham’s double.
Miles Mikolas (2-0) limited the Reds’ struggling offense to four hits in seven innings, including Tucker Barnhart’s homer. It was his best outing since signing with the Cardinals after spending the last three seasons pitching in Japan.
The Reds placed their hopes for a turnaround on the top of
their rotation staying healthy. The pitching staff has been sapped by injuries again this season and has given up the most runs and homers in the majors. Their 6.04 ERA is by far the worst in the majors.
Finnegan strained his left biceps during spring training. He was activated before Saturday’s game and gave up six hits, four walks and five runs in 4 innings, throwing 91 pitches on his 25th birthday.
“He wasn’t real sharp,” Price said. “He had a hard time getting things going.”