Wainwright wins 9th as Cards rout Reds

Cincinnati, OH – Adam Wainwright picked up his ninth win of the season and the St. Louis Cardinals recorded 16 hits in a 9-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds in the opener of a three-game series at Great American Ball Park.

Wainwright (9-3) gave up two runs on seven hits and a walk while striking out seven in seven innings to tie the Diamondbacks' Patrick Corbin for most wins in the majors this season. He has also allowed three earned runs or less in his last six starts.

Pete Kozma drove in three runs while Jon Jay and David Freese had two RBI apiece for the Cardinals, whose 21 road wins lead the majors.

"We take pride in driving guys in," said Freese. "We get a lot of guys on base. We just know if we keep the train moving, we're going to have an opportunity offensively to put some runs across the board."

Shin-Soo Choo and Jay Bruce each had one RBI for the Reds, who have lost three straight and four of their last five games. Starter Mike Leake (5-3) surrendered three runs on six hits and a walk over five frames to record his first loss since May 8 against the Braves.

"They've got a great lineup," Leake said of St. Louis. "You can't take a break against any of them. You have to keep going after them and challenge them."

The Cardinals got just one runner on base before striking for three runs in the fourth. Allen Craig hit a one-out single to put runners on the corners and, after Yadier Molina struck out, Freese, Jay and Kozma connected on three straight RBI singles to give the Cardinals a 3-0 lead.

St. Louis scored four more runs in the sixth. With one out, Molina smacked a double to center and Freese drew a walk. Jay and Kozma then hit back-to-back doubles to left, with Jay plating one run Kozma driving in two. Two batters later, Matt Carpenter plated Kozma with an infield single.

The Reds got on the board in the bottom of the inning, when Bruce delivered a two-out single to center that scored Zack Cozart.

Holliday knocked a leadoff double in the seventh and later scored on a double by Freese. The Reds answered back in the home half, with a two-out RBI double by Choo that plated Devin Mesoraco, but that would be their last run.

The Cardinals added one run in the eighth. With Manny Parra pitching for Cincinnati, pinch-hitter Ty Wigginton ripped a double to left and later scored on an infield single by Shane Robinson.

Game Notes

Freese has a 17-game hitting streak, while Carpenter extended his streak to 16 ... Holliday had two doubles ... The Cardinals were 8-for-19 with runners in scoring position ... Reds starters have allowed 20 earned runs in 32 innings over their last four games.