Cardinals score late, beat Cincinnati

Cardinals 3, Reds 1

Tommy Pham drove in Tony Cruz with the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly in the seventh inning and John Lackey (13-9) pitched seven strong innings Tuesday as the Cardinals defeated Cincinnati. Cruz started the seventh with a single against Sam LeCure (0-2). Matt Carpenter singled one out later, sending Cruz to third and setting up Pham’s game-winning RBI. Pham also had an RBI double in the third.

By the numbers

The Reds bounced into inning-ending double plays in the second, fourth and fifth. ... Lackey, who walked none and struck out seven, improved to 9-4 with a 1.97 ERA in 16 starts at Busch Stadium ... Carpenter struck out for a team-high 141st time in the first. ... The Cardinals trimmed their magic number for clinching the NL Central to eight. ... Steve Cishek pitched the ninth for his first save. ... Jay Bruce hit a 456-foot homer off Lackey in the first inning. It was the longest home run by a left-handed hitter in the history of Busch Stadium III.

Up next

Lance Lynn (11-10, 3.28 ERA) vs. Brandon Finnegan (1-0, 1.17 ERA), 7:15 p.m.

This story was originally published September 22, 2015 at 10:23 PM with the headline "Cardinals score late, beat Cincinnati."