DeJong’s grand slam leads Cardinals past Reds

CARDINALS 7, REDS 5

CINCINNATI — Paul DeJong slugged his first career grand slam, helping Dakota Hudson to his first win of the season as the St. Louis Cardinals held on to beat the Cincinnati Reds 7-5 on Monday night in the opener of a three-game series.

The Cardinals loaded the bases with two outs in the fourth inning on Kolten Wong’s single, and walks by Paul Goldschmidt and Brad Miller. DeJong capitalized, sending Anthony DeSclafani’s full-count pitch over the center-field fence for his second home run of the season.

“First of all, the guys did a great job getting on base,” DeJong said. “They made DeSclafani work hard. He threw a lot of pitches. While I was on deck, [backup catcher Andrew] Knizner told me to hit the ball straight. I was able to get a 3-2 fastball and ended up trying not to do too much.”

Hudson (1-3) finished with a season-high seven strikeouts and no walks. He allowed 4 hits and 2 runs, 1 earned. With the help of a double play, he faced the minimum 13 batters, starting from the last out of the first through the fifth.

“He’s on the plate,” St. Louis Manager Mike Shildt said. “The guy’s got good stuff. I love his slider. When his sinker’s down, it’s good — just a really, really nice job.”

He admitted feeling a bit of weight lifted off his shoulders.

“I definitely don’t like losing,” Hudson said. “I hated the fact that was lingering over me a little bit, but I felt like we were right there every time out.”

Goldschmidt collected three hits, and DeJong, Wong and Tommy Edman each had two hits for the Cardinals, who won their second consec- utive after dropping four in a row.

Eugenio Suarez drove in four runs for Cincinnati, three on a ninth-inning home run, his eighth of the season.

The Reds have lost three of four after winning three in a row.