The Cincinnati Reds did not beat the St. Louis Cardinals today

When the ball jumped off the bat of Jonathan India to lead off the Top of the 1st, there was latent optimism that maybe, just maybe, the Cincinnati Reds would be having one of those rare good days in St. Louis. As it sailed over the LF wall for the 7th leadoff dinger in India’s young career, so, too, did the rest of the energy the Reds had on the day, unfortunately.

Reds rookie lefty Nick Lodolo never looked comfortable on the mound on a blisteringly hot day in Busch III, hitting a trio of batters while being otherwise bashed by the Cardinals for 5 ER in just 2.0 IP. Some of that damage came via Paul Goldschmidt, whose 20th homer of this 2022 season also served as the 300th in his illustrious career. From there, the St. Louis hits kept falling early and often against the beleaguered Cincinnati bullpen, and by the time Hunter Strickland was done getting mashed and bashed once again, the Reds trailed by the score of 11-3.

That’s how this one finished. Joey Votto has a .700 OPS. Elly De La Cruz got passed over for the start in tonight’s Futures Game for a pair of Cardinals prospects. The draft is tomorrow, followed by five days of no Cincinnati Reds baseball, unless Luis Castillo makes an All Star Game cameo in what’ll potentially be his final time donning the uniform.

At least the New York series was fun. Tune in tomorrow at 2:15 PM ET for more Cincinnati Reds baseball fun!