Cardinals v Reds: 95 wins

Cardinals John Lackey (2.79 ERA, 3.57 FIP, 3.90 xFIP)

Reds Keyvius Sampson (7.09 ERA, 4.77 FIP, 4.92 xFIP)

Some bad news for speed burner Billy Hamilton:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Billy Hamilton injury means Reds won&#39;t see him again until spring training <a href="http://t.co/34EErvvE3Z">http://t.co/34EErvvE3Z</a> <a href="http://t.co/BmB9sebhlu">pic.twitter.com/BmB9sebhlu</a></p>&mdash; MLB Daily Dish (@mlbdailydish) <a href="https://twitter.com/mlbdailydish/status/646334093450444800">September 22, 2015</a></blockquote>

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The Game

Jay Bruce launched a 1st inning 1 out blast to put the Reds ahead 1-0. That was it. The only run they would score. Not that they didn't have their opportunities. The Cardinals defense turned 3 double plays on the night to kill Commie rallies and the Reds stranded 9 more.

The first Redbird double dip came in a bases-loaded second-inning jam as pitcher Keyvius Sampson chopped to Wong who tagged Adam Duvall running past before throwing over for the force at first.

Matt Carpenter and Tommy Pham teamed up with a pair of doubles to knot things up 1-1 in the third (No idea why this isn't in the highlights package. Do better, MLB.)

Cards had a really nice chance in the 6th, with Jason Heyward and Jhonny Peralta on with 1 out, but Tony Cingrani relieved Sampson and was able get out of the jam.

Sampson hardly looked dominant, but the Cardinals had trouble getting anything going against him.

Meanwhile, Lackey was just fine, thank you, going 7 full: 7 IP, 9 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, 106 pitches

Our Birdos were able to break the tie in the 7th, with Tony Cruz (!) getting on with a single, then going all the way to third on a MCarp single of his own. Pham put one high and deep enough into the air to score Cruz for 2-1 lead!

Reds threatened in the 8th after Kevin Seigrist got Jason Bourgeois and Bruce to strikeout. Joey Votto walked off the island ice floe and Brandon Phillips doubled, but Ivan De Jesus grounded out to end the threat.

Cardinals tacked on a much needed (for our mental well-being) insurance run in the home half of the 8th. Peralta walked and Piscotty lashed a single into the LF corner. A really nice play by Adam Duvall kept that from being a double. Wong's sac fly brought home Peralta for a slightly more comfortable 3-1 lead.

Steve Cishek took care of Save Duties, as Trevor Rosenthal had pitched in back-to-back games, going 4 outs on Sunday.

Bulletpoint(s)!

• Cardinals have 11 games remaining to get to that 100 win mark.
• Pirates and Cubs both won today, keeping them at 4 and 6 games behind respectively.

<iframe src="http://www.fangraphs.com/graphframe.aspx?config=0&static=0&type=livewins&num=0&h=350&w=500&date=2015-09-22&team=Cardinals&dh=0" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" height="350" width = "500" style="border:1px solid black;"></iframe><br /><span style="font-size:9pt;">Source: <a href="http://www.fangraphs.com/livewins.aspx?date=2015-09-22&team=Cardinals&dh=0&season=2015">FanGraphs</a></span>

Tomorrow it's Lance Lynn and Brandon Finnegan to wrap up this three game set. Gametime 7:15 pm Central.