June 19-21 NL simulation: Cincy gains in St. Louis

In the 2020 MLB season, the Reds beat the Cards and improve their grip on the Central.

The Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals are proving to be about as evenly matched as two teams can be. As the virtual 2020 NL  season approaches the halfway point, there’s no reason that won’t continue to be the case.

The Reds took two of three games from the Cardinals in a head-to-head weekend meeting at Busch Stadium. Thus far Cincinnati, which clings to a two-game advantage over St. Louis in the NL Central, is dead even with the Cardinals in the season series, both teams having won five times.

More from Call to the Pen

• Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
• Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
• Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
• Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
• 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals

The teams don’t meet again until home-and-home series in August; they’ll play a wrapup series in Cincinnati in mid-September.

Luis Castillo pitched the Reds to a 4-0 shutout victory Friday, allowing just four hits and striking out 14. Cardinal pitcher Jack Flaherty, 5-4, showed up well, but he did allow home runs to Freddie Galvis and Tucker Barnhart.

The Cardinals bounced back Saturday, riding Dexter Fowler’s second-inning grand slam to a 7-4 win for Adam Wainwright, 7-6.  Trevor Bauer took the loss, lasting just those two innings and surrendering all seven runs. Paul Goldschmidt added to Bauer’s miseries with a two-run first-inning home run.

But Cincinnati took the rubber game 4-2 Sunday as Wade Miley scattered seven hits across as many innings of work. Nick Castellanos, Joey Votto, and Shogo Akiyama all homered for the Reds, Akiyama’s eighth-inning home run off Ryan Helsley with a  runner on base putting Cincinnati ahead to stay.

In other National League action, the Arizona Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Dodgers both stumbled toward their mid-week three-game showdown in Phoenix, losing two of three. The D-Backs fell to the Milwaukee Brewers, while the Dodgers lost an inter-league upset at home to the Detroit Tigers.

The Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates both also lost interleague home series, the Cubs dropping two of three to the Boston Red Sox and the Pirates losing to the Toronto Blue Jays.

In the NL East, Atlanta won two of three from the Washington Nationals and slipped back into first place when the New York Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies twice. San Francisco took two of three in Miami and did the same at home against San Diego.