Postgame Takeaways: Cincinnati Reds Defeat St. Louis Cardinals 6-1

The Cincinnati Reds (58-61) beat the St. Louis Cardinals (60-59) 6-1 on Monday night at Great American Ball Park.

Here are our postgame takeaways:

Bombs Away

With the Reds trailing 1-0 early, Spencer Steer hit a two-run home run over the left field wall that scored Jake Fraley to give the Reds an early lead. Elly De La Cruz was up next, and he took a high fastball from Sonny Gray into the right field seats to extend the Reds lead to 3-1.

With two runners on, Steer once again stepped up to the plate in the fifth. He hit a 3-1 pitch into the left field seats for his first multi-home run game of his career, his 18th home run of the season. His second home run gave the Reds a 6-1 lead, which is all they would need.

Abbott's Strong Start

Andrew Abbott has struggled of late and it was looking like Monday night could be another tough outing. The Cardinals had already scored to take a 1-0 lead and one of their best hitters, Brendan Donovan, stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded. Donovan worked the count to 2-2 before Abbott struck him out on a sweeper away to get out of the jam.

Abbott would cruise the rest of the way, throwing 6 2/3 innings of one-run baseball and only allowing five hits. He walked two and struck out six.

Junis Closes the Game

The Reds got Jakob Junis from the Brewers in the Frankie Montas deal. He came on to replace Abbott and stranded two runners in the seventh. He followed with a perfect 1-2-3 eighth and a perfect ninth to close out the game and secure the win.

Up Next

The Reds and Cardinals will face off in game two of the series on Tuesday at 6:40 ET.

News and Notes

The Reds are one of three teams who Sonny Gray has yet to record a win against.
Spencer Steer has reached base safely in seven straight games.
The Reds are 42-8 when scoring five runs or more.
The Reds are 29-11 when hitting two or more home runs.
Jake Fraley had two stolen bases.

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