Andrew Abbott was effective through seven innings, Matt McLain homered and the visiting Cincinnati Reds snapped a three-game losing streak with a 4-1 win against the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday.
Abbott (7-1) allowed one run on three hits and struck out three in his third quality start over his past five outings. Emilio Pagan tossed a perfect ninth for his 18th save.
The Reds are the only team in the majors who have yet to be swept this season.
Miles Mikolas (4-5) gave up three runs (two earned) on four hits and fanned six over five innings for the Cardinals, whose five-game winning streak ended.
Mikolas had retired 10 straight Cincinnati batters before the visitors broke a 1-1 tie in the top of the fifth inning.
Jose Trevino hooked a double down the left field line and Jake Fraley followed with a double to right-center to drive in Trevino and make it 2-1. With TJ Friedl at the plate, Fraley advanced to third on a passed ball and scored when Friedl delivered a sacrifice fly to deep center to increase it to 3-1.
The Reds added another in the sixth against reliever Kyle Leahy. Elly De La Cruz led off with a double and a groundout by Tyler Stephenson moved him to third. De La Cruz came around to score when Gavin Lux grounded out, extending it to 4-1.
McLain matched a career-high 10-game hitting streak in the first inning by belting his ninth home run of the season into the St. Louis bullpen in right-center field.
The Cardinals tied it 1-1 in the second. Nolan Arenado singled, went to second on a fielding error and scored on a ground-ball single to right field from Yohel Pozo.
After that, Abbott held the St. Louis offense at bay, retiring the next 18 batters before exiting the game. The Cardinals had scored 37 runs over the past five games before Abbott limited them to one on 100 pitches.
St. Louis outfielder Alec Burleson went 0-for-4, snapping his nine-game hitting streak.
–Field Level Media
