Cardinals Rally Past Reds 6-5 on Nootbaar Pinch-Hit Homer

Lars Nootbaar hit a two-run pinch-hit home run in the eighth inning to give the St. Louis Cardinals a 6-5 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday afternoon in St. Louis. Nootbaar connected off Cincinnati reliever Sam Moll after Jose Fermin opened the inning with a single.

The homer erased a one-run deficit and marked the Cardinals' 18th come-from-behind win of the season. George Soriano pitched a scoreless eighth inning to earn the win and improved to 3-0. Riley O'Brien allowed two hits and a walk with two outs in the ninth to load the bases but retired Sal Stewart on a groundout to second base for his 16th save in 20 chances.

Stewart and the Reds initially thought they had tied the game on a bases-loaded walk, but St. Louis catcher Jimmy Crooks successfully challenged the call. The count went full before Stewart grounded out to end the game.

Nootbaar missed the first two months of the season after double heel surgery and returned to play on Friday night. Cincinnati starter Nick Lodolo pitched five innings, allowing nine hits while striking out three and walking one. Lodolo faced two batters in the sixth before reliever Tejay Antone worked out of a bases-loaded jam with none out by inducing a 3-2-3 double play.

The Cardinals took a 3-0 lead in the second inning against Lodolo. The Reds tied the game in the third when Alec Burleson committed an error on a grounder by JJ Bleday with the bases loaded, allowing two runs to score, and Spencer Steer followed with a sacrifice fly. Matt McLain hit his sixth home run of the season, a two-run shot in the fourth inning, to give the Reds a 5-3 lead.

Jordan Walker hit his 16th home run of the season in the fifth inning to cut the lead to 5-4, his third homer against Cincinnati in four games. Spencer Steer walked in the fifth inning to extend his on-base streak to 24 games, the longest current streak in the Majors.