St. Louis, MO (SportsNetwork.com) - Jhonny Peralta drove in three runs and Jon Jay had another terrific night at the plate as the St. Louis Cardinals topped the Cincinnati Reds, 7-3, in the finale of a three-game set.
Jay singled three times, scored twice and drove in a run to extend his hitting streak to 12 games. Jay has driven in 12 runs during that stretch. He was also hit by a pitch for the seventh time in his last eight.
Lance Lynn (14-8) was dominant on the hill, striking out five in seven innings of scoreless ball for the Cards, who completed a series sweep of Cincinnati at Busch Stadium for the first time since Sept. 26-28, 2008.
The Cardinals also denied Reds starter Johnny Cueto (15-7) his major league- leading 16th win of the season and ended his five-start win streak. Cueto lost for the first time since July 2 after allowing five runs on seven hits with four walks in just five-plus innings.
Cincinnati has dropped five straight and 10 of 12. Cueto was on the mound for both of those wins.
Trailing 7-0 through eight innings, the Reds made things interesting against Carlos Martinez in the ninth. A single by pinch-hitter Jack Hannahan and a pair of errors led to the first two Cincinnati runs of the game. Kris Negron then made it 7-3 with his infield single, and Devin Mesoraco blooped a double to left to put runners on second and third and chase Martinez.
Trevor Rosenthal came on and avoided further damage, picking up his 37th save of the season in the process.
Earlier, Jay singled with one away in the third inning and scored the game's first run when Matt Holliday doubled to right-center.
Another Jay hit, this time an infield single with two outs in the fifth, led to Peralta's bases-clearing double. Holliday was hit by a pitch and Matt Adams drew a walk to load them for Peralta, who went the other way with a liner to right-center.
A pair of walks around Daniel Descalso's double in the home sixth spelled the end of Cueto's outing. Logan Andrusek came on and avoided the big inning, giving up a line-drive sac fly to Matt Carpenter and nothing else.
Following a 58-minute rain delay, Peter Bourjos doubled in a run with no outs in the eighth and Jay singled him in later in the frame for the 7-0 lead.
Game Notes
The Cardinals have won four games in a row and seven of eight ... St. Louis finished 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position and stranded 10 ... Ramon Santiago and Jay Bruce had two hits apiece for Cincinnati.
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