ST. LOUIS — Nolan Arenado was back at third base and back driving baseballs again, but still the Cardinals fell back in the race for the National League’s No. 3 Wild Card slot because of their fatigued bullpen’s inability to hold a lead.
The Cardinals got an RBI single in the second inning and a seventh-inning double from Arenado in his first MLB game since July 30, and they used a three-run eruption in the sixth inning and a two-run rally in the seventh to knot the score. However, when the Reds responded with one run in the eighth and four in the ninth it led to a frustration-filled 11-6 loss for St. Louis at Busch Stadium.
With co-closers Riley O’Brien and JoJo Romero unavailable after pitching Saturday and Sunday in Milwaukee, the Cardinals were forced to turn the game over to second-year right-hander Chris Roycroft in the seventh inning. After the first two reached, Matt McLain drilled a one-out, two-run double into right to give the Reds the lead. TJ Friedl singled off lefty John King to put the Cards in a 6-4 hole.
Then, after the Cards had game tied at 6, reliever Ryan Fernandez allowed three straight batters to reach in the eighth and Will Benson drove in what proved to be the winning run with a sacrifice fly to left field.
The loss dropped the Cardinals to 4 1/2 games back of the idle Mets for the No. 3 spot in the NL Wild Card race. The Reds, who came into the day having lost 15 of 22 and coming off a losing sweep against the Athletics over the weekend, pulled within two games of the Mets. Since moving back to .500 at 72-72 on Sept. 9, the Cardinals have gone 1-6 to dim their hopes of surge into contention.
Arenado spent three weeks working at the Cards’ Spring Training headquarters in Jupiter, Fla., and then played four games last week with Double-A Springfield to prepare for his return. Wanting to show that he is healthy and capable of driving balls again, Arenado said he hopes to play in all 12 of the games remaining for the Cardinals. On Monday, he lined a single into left-center in his first at-bat to plate Willson Contreras, who had doubled. Later, Arenado led off the seventh inning with a double that sparked a two-run rally.
