Cardinals Claim Tie Of NL Central Lead After Doubling Up Reds 8-4

Cincinnati, OH (Sports Network) - Matt Holliday had four hits, scored a run and drove in three as the Cardinals knocked off Cincinnati, 8-4, in a game marred by a brawl between the two NL Central rivals in the opening inning.

Yadier Molina homered and drove in a pair of runs while Albert Pujols walked twice, scored twice and knocked in a run for the Cardinals, who have won the first two games of the three-game set to draw even with the Reds for the top spot in the standings.

Jaime Garcia (10-5) picked up the win after yielding four runs on a pair of hits and five walks over 5 1/3 innings for the Redbirds, who got 3 2/3 innings of shutout relief from the bullpen to sew up their fourth win in five games. Ryan Franklin was called on to get the final out and earned his 20th save.

Johnny Cueto (11-3) was tagged with the loss, his first since June 18, after allowing five runs -- four earned -- on seven hits with four strikeouts for the Reds, who had won seven of eight entering the series.

Felipe Lopez reached second base to start the game on a double off the glove of Jonny Gomes in left field, advanced to third base on a Jon Jay sacrifice bunt and scored the game's first run on a Pujols groundout.

Both managers were ejected before the first pitch of the bottom half of the inning, as the benches emptied and tempers flared after Molina and Brandon Phillips, who had made some inflammatory comments about the Cardinals after Monday's game, got into a heated argument as the Reds second baseman made his way into the batter's box to start the frame.

La Russa and Baker were arguing with one another before pitcher Chris Carpenter of the Cardinals and third baseman Scott Rolen of the Reds became entangled as the mass of players then quickly moved from home plate to the wall and screen behind the plate area. Cueto wound up getting pinned against the screen but was able to re-take the mound.

The Reds knotted the score in the third when Phillips bounced out to plate Drew Stubbs and push Ramon Hernandez, who had singled, to third base. Paul Janish drew a two-out walk before Joey Votto laced a base hit to right field to deliver Hernandez with the tying run.

The Cardinals regained the lead for good in the sixth inning when Holliday doubled home Pujols, who had singled to lead off the frame. Holliday came around when Colby Rasmus doubled into the right field corner. Rasmus advanced to third base on a fielding error by Chris Heisey. A Molina sacrifice fly chased home Rasmus to push the visitors' lead to 5-2 and Cueto from the game.

Garcia issued back-to-back one-out walks to Votto and Rolen in the sixth and was replaced by Fernando Salas, who struck out Gomes for the second out. Pinch-hitter Jim Edmonds drew a walk to load the bases before Stubbs singled home a pair of runs to cut the lead to one. However, the inning ended when Edmonds was thrown out trying to get back to second base after rounding the bag too far.

The Cardinals extended their lead with three runs in the seventh against rookie Logan Ondrusek, who had entered the game having thrown 22 consecutive shutout innings.

The Reds received consecutive two-out singles from Hernandez and pinch-hitter Laynce Nix in the bottom of the ninth that chased Kyle McClellan from the game and brought on Franklin, who retired Phillips to end the contest.

The Reds have lost a series for the first time since the All-Star break...They are 6-1-1 in their last eight sets and 11-2-1 in their last 14...Edmonds played in his 2,000th career game and became the 222nd player in major league history to reach that plateau...Cueto has given up 16 earned runs in 21 1/3 innings in four starts against the Cardinals this season and is 3-3 in nine career turns against them...Hernandez has hit safely in eight of his last nine games...Garcia became the first Cardinals rookie pitcher to win 10 games in a season since Jason Simontacchi won 11 times in 2002 and the first southpaw to do it since Rick Ankiel was an 11-game winner in 2000...He is 3-0 against the Reds this season...Holliday has hits in 22 of his last 24 games, including his last six...Pujols has hit safely in 10 in a row and scored in nine straight games...The Cardinals are 47-24 in games started by Garcia, Carpenter and Adam Wainwright.