Moss homers twice in Cardinals' romp
CINCINNATI -- Brandon Moss homered twice, and Matt Adams and Jhonny Peralta also went deep as the St. Louis Cardinals outslugged the Cincinnati Reds 12-7 on Wednesday night at Great American Ball Park.
It was the eighth career multi-home run game for Moss, who leads the team with 13 for the season.
Peralta's two-run shot in the eighth inning was his first of the season after being reinstated from the disabled list Tuesday. He went 2-for-5 with three RBIs as part of a 15-hit outburst by the Cardinals on Wednesday.
Zack Cozart and Tucker Barnhart homered for Cincinnati (22-37), which also collected 15 hits.
The Reds have lost 14 of the past 21 series played against the Cardinals. The rubber match for this set will be played Thursday night.
Jaime Garcia allowed five runs and 13 hits (two home runs) for St. Louis (31-28) in 4 2/3 innings. Matt Bowman (1-1) earned his first career victory.
It was another rough outing for Reds right-hander Alfredo Simon (2-6), whose ERA ballooned to 9.11 after he allowed six runs and seven hits in five innings.
Hopes of Simon logging some innings to pick up the Reds' bullpen were dashed in the first inning when he walked leadoff batter Matt Carpenter on nine pitches then issued a four-pitch walk to Aledmys Diaz.
Adams followed with a three-run blast to right-center on the very next pitch, putting the Cardinals ahead 3-0 just three batters into the game.
St. Louis led 4-1 after Yadier Molina doubled and scored on Carpenter's double into the right field corner.
The wheels nearly came off for Garcia in the second inning when six consecutive batters reached and two scored. But a pair of hard line-drive outs left the bases loaded and the Cardinals clinging to a 4-3 lead.
Cozart tied the score 4-4 with a leadoff homer on Garcia's first pitch in the fourth. It was his ninth homer this season and fourth in nine appearances.
Moss broke the tie with a mammoth two-run homer to the top row of the Moon Deck in right field. Measured at 426 feet, Moss' 12th homer put St. Louis ahead 6-4.
Barnhart's second home run of the season followed by pinch-hitter Steve Selsky's first career hit ended Garcia's evening.
NOTES: Cardinals C Yadier Molina holds a slim lead over the Giants C Buster Posey in the balloting released Wednesday for the National League All-Star team. ... The Reds' Zack Cozart is fifth among NL shortstops in the latest All-Star voting. ... Cardinals C Brayan Pena made his first rehab appearances for Double-A Springfield on Tuesday, going 0-for-2 at the plate and catching four innings. ... Cincinnati went 5-1 to begin June, the best record in the NL.