Cardinals 5, Reds 4 (16)
Matt Adams, substituting for the injured Allen Craig, led off the 16th inning with his second extra-inning home run of the night as visiting St. Louis broke through after losing the first two games of the key National League Central series.
Adams' first homer gave St. Louis a 4-3 lead in the 14th, but Cincinnati tied it in the bottom half on Zack Cozart's RBI single. The 15th inning ended in bizarre fashion as Cincinnati's Chris Heisey tried to bunt with runners at first and third and two outs, and Shin-Soo Choo was picked off third after Heisey missed the pitch.
Matt Carpenter had three hits and scored twice for the Cardinals, who moved within one game of first-place Pittsburgh in the NL Central. Carlos Martinez (2-1) worked out of trouble in the 15th before pitching a perfect 16th as St. Louis won for only the second time in seven games.
Logan Ondrusek (3-1) served up Adams' game-winning blast in his second inning of work while Brandon Phillips hit a solo home run - for his 100th RBI of the season - for the Reds, who remain 3 1/2 games behind Pittsburgh. Cincinnati's lead over Washington for the second wild-card spot shrunk to 6 1/2 games.
Five St. Louis relievers retired 19 straight batters before Choo blooped a single to center field with two outs in the 12th inning. Cardinals starter Shelby Miller allowed three runs, six hits and four walks in 5 2/3 innings, while the Reds' Bronson Arroyo yielded three runs (two earned) and seven hits in seven frames.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Craig left in the fourth inning after he appeared to roll his ankle rounding first base following an infield hit. Arizona's Paul Goldschmidt leads the NL with 104 RBIs, followed by Phillips and Craig (97). ... Arroyo, who is 0-3 in five starts against St. Louis this season and 8-16 lifetime, had three sacrifice bunts. He leads the major leagues with 15, while his 261 starts are the most in the majors since the beginning of the 2006 season. ... Cozart went 2-for-7 to extend his hitting streak to nine games and is 14-for-36 during that span. Reds 1B Joey Votto recorded his first career 0-for-7 performance.