St. Louis, MO (SportsNetwork.com) - Mike Leake tossed eight scoreless innings and the Cincinnati Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-0, to avoid a three- game sweep.
Leake (1-1) allowed just four hits while striking out three for the Reds, who improved to 3-6 on the young season.
Devin Mesoraco hit a two-run homer for Cincinnati, which got an RBI apiece from Jay Bruce and Brandon Phillips. Billy Hamilton went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and two steals.
"I didn't have a good start (to the season) at all, but I feel like now I'm settling things down," Hamilton said of adjusting to his first full season in the big leagues.
St. Louis starter Shelby Miller (0-2) gave up three runs on seven hits while striking out five over six full frames.
Mesoraco's homer in the fourth gave the Reds a 2-0 lead. Chris Heisey hit a two-out single and scored on Mesoraco's blast to left-center field.
Cincinnati tacked on another run in the fifth when Hamilton scored on Bruce's sacrifice fly. Hamilton led off with a single, stole second, advanced to third on a flyout and tagged up on Bruce's pop fly to shallow right.
St. Louis finally had a runner advance past first base in the seventh. Matt Adams hit a two-out double to left, but Yadier Molina struck out swinging to end the inning.
"He kept the ball down, had his sinker working, his cutter working," St. Louis third baseman Matt Carpenter said of Leake. "He was as good as I've seen him."
Phillips' RBI single in the ninth made it a 4-0 contest.
Game Notes
St. Louis is 4-2 against Cincinnati this season ... The Reds went 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position and stranded nine.
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