EditorsNote: corrects DeJong's name in 2nd graf
Tommy Edman hit the first grand slam of the season for St. Louis to highlight a five-run sixth inning, and the Cardinals held on for a 7-4 win over the host Cincinnati Reds in the opener of a four-game series on Thursday night.
The Reds went to their bullpen with a 3-2 lead to start the sixth, and Paul DeJong soon tied the game with an RBI single. Three batters later, Edman lifted the first pitch he saw from Robert Stephenson (2-2) over the fence in center for a 7-3 lead.
DeJong also had a two-run homer, and Tyler O'Neill, Kolten Wong and Matt Wieters also had two hits each for St. Louis.
Cardinals right-hander Dakota Hudson (9-4) won his third consecutive start, going five innings and allowing three runs and six hits. He struck out three and walked two.
After John Gant allowed a run in the sixth, Giovanny Gallegos and John Brebbia combined to throw 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief for St. Louis. Andrew Miller worked a shutout ninth for his second save.
Eugenio Suarez homered for the Reds, and Jose Iglesias, Jesse Winker and Yasiel Puig had two hits apiece.
Reds starter Tanner Roark threw four shutout innings before giving up a two-run homer to DeJong in the fifth to cut Cincinnati's lead to 3-2.
Stephenson got the first batter out in the sixth, but Dexter Fowler walked and Wieters singled. After an RBI single by DeJong tied the score at 3-3, the Cardinals loaded the bases with two outs, setting up Edman's grand slam.
Suarez homered in the first inning to give the Reds a 1-0 lead.
Roark led off the third with a double and took third on a single by Winker. Joey Votto capped an eight-pitch at-bat with an RBI single up the middle to make it 2-0. Suarez followed with a deep sacrifice fly to center to score Winker.
The Reds played without leadoff hitter and center fielder Nick Senzel, who is day-to-day after leaving the team's 5-2 road loss to the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday because of hamstring tightness.
The Reds also put relief pitcher David Hernandez (right shoulder fatigue) and catcher Curt Casali (right knee sprain) on the 10-day injured list and infielder Kyle Farmer (concussion) on the seven-day injured list.
--Field Level Media
