ST. LOUIS – Jesse Winker stood in the batter’s box and held the finish of his swing. He watched as the ball sailed toward the right field wall, almost trying to will it into the seats by holding his swing as long as he could.
Once the ball landed in the seats, there was no containing his emotions.
He pumped his fist as he ran up the first-base line. He skipped after touching second. He shouted to his teammates after crossing third. He clapped his hands after reaching home plate and broke into a smile as he approached Nick Castellanos.
The Cincinnati Reds bullpen blew a seven-run lead in the sixth inning, but Winker rescued them with one of their biggest hits of the season. The Reds completed their four-game sweep over the St. Louis Cardinals with an 8-7 victory at Busch Stadium.
It was the first time the Reds swept a four-game series in St. Louis since 1990. Tom Browning ended that series with a complete-game shutout. Winker, who drove in six runs Sunday, wasn’t even born yet.
Winker’s phenomenal performance – his second three-homer game of the season – was the difference between a sweep that may have resuscitated their season and, perhaps, a season-defining loss.
The Cardinals had two runners in scoring position with no outs in the bottom of the ninth inning after back-to-back hits by Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado. Reds closer Lucas Sims retired the next three batters, the final two via strikeout.
The Reds carried a seven-run lead into the sixth inning after Wade Miley pitched five scoreless frames. Miley was lifted for a pinch-hitter after he threw 92 pitches. Miley matched a season-high with eight strikeouts, permitting four hits and two walks.
As well as Miley pitched, Bell put his trust in the bullpen.
It was an absolute disaster.
Michael Feliz, who recorded his first career save Friday, didn’t record an out against the five batters he faced. Tyler O’Neill, the second batter of the inning, ended the shutout with a two-run homer to straightaway center, giving some life to the crowd of 21,152.
The Cardinals loaded the bases after O’Neill’s homer through two singles and a walk. Bell called for Brad Brach out of the bullpen to try to limit the damage.
Brach had an 0-2 count against his first batter, pinch-hitter Matt Carpenter, and he was squeezed from a potential called third strike before Carpenter ripped a two-run double to center field that Shogo Akiyama was unable to hold as he collided with the wall. Carpenter clapped toward his teammates in the dugout as he crouched at second base and shouted, “Let’s go!”
Next up was Tommy Edman, who hit a chopper over the mound that deflected off the tip of the 6-foot-6 Brach’s glove. Shortstop Mike Freeman tried to make a charging throw and airmailed over first baseman Tyler Stephenson. It was ruled an RBI infield single and it was a two-run game.
Brach walked his last batter on five pitches, which loaded the bases again. The Reds used two relievers in the inning and still hadn’t recorded an out when Tejay Antone emerged from the bullpen for his third appearance in the last four days.
Antone, facing Paul Goldschmidt, induced a double play on his second pitch – a broken-bat line drive back to the mound that he caught and then doubled off a runner at first base.
The sigh of relief was short-lived. Nolan Arenado hit a first-pitch slider to center field for a game-tying, two-run single. Arenado, who began the inning with a leadoff single off Feliz, pumped his fist from first base and the crowd roared with approval.
Bell wanted to rely on his bullpen for the final 12 outs with a seven-run lead. It was erased in less than an inning. It was a 40-pitch debacle.
The Reds raced to a 7-0 lead in the first three innings and Winker played a big part in that.
St. Loui starter John Gant had already surrendered a homer to Winker in the first inning, so he consulted the cheat sheet in his pocket when Winker fell into a two-strike, no-ball count in his second at-bat.
There was no scouting report that was stopping Winker on Sunday.
Winker belted a three-run homer over the wall in right-center, a 429-foot blast that was just four feet shorter than his two-run homer in the first inning.
There were several people, including Joey Votto, who predicted if Winker started to hit for power, he’d become one of the best hitters in the National League. Winker has proven that this season. He matched his single-season career-high with 16 homers – and he accomplished it in 50 games.
Gant had permitted only one home run in 50 2/3 innings entering Sunday. Then he surrendered two to Winker in the first two innings.
It was just the second time in Gant’s career that he gave up multiple homers to a batter in one game. The other time was exactly four years ago when Scooter Gennett tied an MLB-record with his four-homer night.
Eugenio Suárez added a two-run double in the third inning and it appeared the rout was on.
The Reds bullpen remains a major weakness, but Winker made sure it wasn't going to stop him.
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