Cardinals 2, Reds 1: The Good, the Bad, Next Steps

The red-hot St. Louis Cardinals took care of business on Monday afternoon.

St. Louis entered the day winners of two straight after winning a series against the Chicago Cubs over the weekend. The Cardinals kept the good times rolling by taking down the Cincinnati Reds on the road in the first half of a day-night doubleheader, 2-1.

With that being said, let's dive right in with a recap.

The Good

Quinn Mathews

Mathews took the mound for his second career big league start and he was good yet again. He wasn't extremely efficient, but Mathews was impactful. The young lefty pitched four innings and struck out seven batters while allowing just two base hits and one run. His pitch count was high for four innings (95 pitches), but the stuff was good. He now has a 3.00 ERA in two big league starts. He's going to make it hard for the Cardinals not to keep him in the majors.

The Bullpen

Naturally, in a 2-1 game, the pitching in general was great. Mathews was good, but he left a lot of meat on the bone. The bullpen delivered. Luis Gastélum, Gordon Graceffo, George Soriano, Ryne Stanek and Riley O'Brien combined to toss five scoreless innings and allowed just one base hit. Plus, they combined for eight strikeouts.

Alec Burleson

Burleson is an RBI machine. He drove in the Cardinals' two runs and went 2-for-4 overall on the day. Now, he has 32 doubles on the season and a league-leading 92 RBIs. Somehow, he's still underrated.

Jordan Walker

Walker struggled to kick off the second half of the season, but he has turned a corner. On Monday, he went 2-for-4 and is now batting .286 on the season.

The Bad

Apr 21, 2025; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; A St. Louis Cardinals hat and glove in the dugout against the Atlanta Braves in the first inning at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Timely Hitting

The offense tallied just seven base hits on the afternoon. You're going to see games like that. The worst part was just how many runners the Cardinals left on base. St. Louis left nine runners on throughout the contest. It didn't need to be as close as it was, but a win is a win. There really wasn't anything bad about the rest of the contest. Just a good, clean baseball game.

Next Steps

Aug 11, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Andre Pallante (53) throws against the Philadelphia Phillies during the first inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Cardinals will be right back in the action on Monday night for the second half of the doubleheader. Andre Pallante is scheduled to take the mound against Reds hurler Rhett Lowder. That will be Game 2 of the five-game series. The series itself won't wrap up until Thursday afternoon.

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