ST. LOUIS (AP) - Dakota Hudson allowed just one hit in six innings and the St. Louis Cardinals backed him with four home runs to beat the Cincinnati Reds 7-1 on Saturday night.
“I thought he had plus-stuff,” St. Louis manager Mike Shildt said. “He had good movement. I thought he pitched great. He showed a lot of poise. He didn’t give in to anything. He made quality pitches.”
Hudson benefited from lots of long balls.
Harrison Bader hit a three-run homer and Matt Carpenter and Paul Goldschmidt added solo drives in the sixth as the Cardinals broke it open.
Brad Miller also homered for St. Louis.
“I’d say we have a lot of guys, myself included, who haven’t produced well enough to this point in the year,” Carpenter said. “We can all do a better job. I wouldn’t call our offense streaky. We just haven’t had a full top to bottom production yet. Tonight was a good start and if we can continue that, we’ll be headed in the right direction.”
Hudson (3-2) won his third consecutive decision and second this season over Cincinnati. He didn’t allow a hit through his first five innings. Hudson struck out four and walked four.
“I was in attack mode,” Hudson said. “I was pitch efficient.”
The Cardinals struck for two runs in the fourth to chase rookie Tejay Antone (0-2). Miller led off with a homer and another run scored on Matt Wieters’ grounder.
The Reds, who were checked on just three hits, scored their lone run in the third. Hudson issued three consecutive walks before Shogo Akiyama drove in a run on a fielder’s choice. Hudson got Nick Castellanos to hit into an inning-ending double play to quell the threat.
“It was just about bearing down and not giving in,” Hudson said. “I had the defense behind me. It was one pitch at a time there. I knew I needed a ground ball there so I could get two outs and get out of that jam.”
Reds star Joey Votto was ejected in the ninth after being called out on strikes.
STATS
St. Louis clinched the season series over Cincinnati for the ninth consecutive season. … The Cardinals (17-0) are the only undefeated team in MLB when scoring five or more runs in a game this season.
HONORING BROCK
A memorial service for Lou Brock was held Saturday in Ferguson. The Hall of Famer died Sept. 6 at the age of 81. After the service, the family led a procession to Busch Stadium where family members laid a wreath at the Lou Brock statue.
ROSTER MOVES
Reds: INF Matt Davidson has cleared waivers and has accepted an outright assignment to the alternate training site.
Cardinals: RHP Ryan Meisinger has cleared waivers and was outrighted to the Cardinals’ alternate training site in Springfield.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Reds: OF/DH Jesse Winker (tightness in back) and INF Mike Moustakas (foot contusion) remained out of the starting lineup. Winker was pulled from Thursday’s game against the Cubs. Moustakas also was pulled from Thursday’s game after being hit on the left foot.
Cardinals: LHP Kwang Hyun Kim (kidney ailment) threw a side session Saturday. It’s likely he will return to the rotation and start Monday against the Brewers in one of the doubleheader games.
UP NEXT
Reds: RHP Tyler Mahle (1-2, 3.89) has produced three consecutive quality starts for the second time in his career (1-1, 3.48) with the first time coming in 2018. He has never in his career has produced four straight quality starts.
Cardinals: RHP Carlos Martínez (0-2, 12.27) faced the Twins for the second time this season in his last start. After 41 days on the IL, he worked 3 2/3 innings in a 7-3 loss at Busch Stadium.
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