CINCINNATI (AP) — Eugenio Suarez didn’t wait around to get his team going on Wednesday.

Cincinnati’s All-Star third baseman homered for the third straight game, this time in the first inning, Tucker Barnhart added a two-run shot and the Reds powered to a 7-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.

“It is nice, man,” said Suarez, who’s homered in three straight games for the first time in his career.

“I didn’t expect to hit that one out. One more against St. Louis is nice. We always want to beat St. Louis, especially today. My family was here. I know I have a little bit of pop. The ball was out, off the plate. My barrel caught the ball and hit it out.”

Adam Duvall also homered for the Reds. Sal Romano (6-8) allowed two runs and seven hits in six innings to give the Reds consecutive series wins over St. Louis for the first time since 2011.

Romano, who hadn’t pitched in 10 days and hadn’t started in 15, was surprisingly sharp with just one walk.

“I didn’t feel any different not to pitch for 10 days,” he said. “I just took a deep breath and decided to trust my stuff.”

Paul DeJong and Yadier Molina hit solo homers for the Cardinals, who went 3-5 on their eight-game road trip. DeJong homered in the third inning and Molina hit his 14th of the season in the seventh inning.

Molina flied out with the bases loaded and St. Louis trailing 5-3 in the eighth. The Cardinals were 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and had 11 runners left on base — so many that it looked to interim manager Mike Shildt as if it were twice as many.

“We left 22 guys on base,” he said. “The good news was we had 22 guys to leave on. The discouraging news was we couldn’t get them in. We didn’t execute in situations where we could’ve done some damage. When you leave guys out there, it usually comes back to bite you.”

Suarez tied Monday’s game with a two-out solo homer in the ninth inning and Tuesday’s game with a two-out, two-run, seventh-inning shot.

The Cardinals had rookie starters each go deep without allowing a hit in the first two games of the series. The Reds went 7 1/3 innings without a hit on Monday and 6 1/3 without a hit on Tuesday.

Suarez got the Reds offense going early on Wednesday when he hit a two-run homer off Jack Flaherty.

Duvall added a two-out, opposite-field solo shot into the right-field seats in the fourth to make it 3-1, giving the Reds more than two runs in a game for the first time in their past six games.

“It was a better day offensively,” interim manager Jim Riggleman said. “There were a lot of good at-bats.”

John Gant gave up Barnhart’s two-run drive into the bullpen down the right-field line in the sixth to make it 5-2.

Phillip Ervin broke the game open with an eighth-inning two-run double.

Flaherty (4-5) allowed three runs, four hits, two walks with eight strikeouts in five innings.

LONG(BALL) DROUGHT

DeJong’s homer was his ninth of the season and first since May 11. The shortstop missed 45 games with a fractured left hand. He hit 25 homers last season.

SLUMP SNAPPED

Reds’ Scooter Gennett, who went into the All-Star break leading the National League in hitting, snapped a 0-for-15 slump with a third-inning single.

GLOVE! WHAT GLOVE!

For the third time this season, Romano fielded a comebacker with his bare right hand, this time throwing out pinch-hitter Tommy Pham to end the sixth with the tying run on third base.

DREADED `K’

Jose Peraza snapped his streak of 45 consecutive plate appearances with a strikeout with a swing to end the eighth. His streak was the longest active one in the majors.

ON TRACK

Even though Gant pitched an inning of relief, he’s still scheduled to start on Sunday, Shildt said.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: Head congestion has caused IF Jedd Gyorko to experience dizziness, Shildt said on Wednesday. “He just hasn’t been feeling himself, but he’s improving,” Shildt said.

Reds: OF Scott Schebler, who was eligible to come off the 10-day disabled list on Wednesday, was sent on a medical rehabilitation assignment to Triple-A Louisville. Schebler is out with a strained AC joint in his right shoulder.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: RHP Luke Weaver (5-9) has lasted exactly four innings in each of his previous three starts against the Cubs.

Reds: RHP Tyler Mahle (7-8) had been roughed up for 13 runs, 11 earned, in eight innings over his past two starts.

— Associated Press —

CINCINNATI (AP) — Left-hander Austin Gomber took a no-hitter in the seventh inning and Dexter Fowler hit a two-run shot in the 11th on Tuesday night, leading the St. Louis Cardinals to a 4-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.

Mired in a season-long slump, Fowler connected off left-hander Amir Garrett (0-2) for only his second homer while batting right-handed.

Sam Tuivailala (3-3) escaped a two-on threat in the 10th. Bud Norris got his 19th save in 22 chances, one night after he took a loss.

For the second straight night, a Cardinals rookie went deep into the game without allowing a hit. Daniel Poncedeleon threw no-hit ball for seven innings in his major league debut Monday before the Reds rallied against Norris for a 2-1 win featuring Eugenio Suarez’s homer.

Gomber waited on the mound during a 7-minute, 30-second delay to the bottom of the seventh when the ballpark’s fire alarm went off. Joey Votto singled with one out for the Reds’ first hit, and Suarez followed with his 21st homer, ending the rookie’s debut as a starter.

Gomber made 15 relief appearances this season before the Cardinals sent him to Triple-A to get in shape to help their depleted rotation. He threw 90 pitches in his first major league start.

Homer Bailey returned from his latest injury and gave one of his best performances of the season, allowing a pair of runs and striking out a season-high eight batters in 6 2/3 innings. Bailey has been sidelined since late May by a sore right knee.

Bailey was so ineffective before the injury that the Reds considered moving him to the bullpen. He’s 1-7 in 13 starts this season.

Jose Martinez singled home a run in the fourth and Yairo Munoz doubled home another in the seventh.

ROTATION SWITCH

The Cardinals optioned Poncedeleon to Triple-A Memphis, opening a roster spot for Gomber.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: Carlos Martinez threw in the outfield, the latest step in his recovery from a strained right oblique. He could return to the rotation next week if his recovery continues on schedule.

Reds: RH reliever Jackson Stephenson went on the 10-day DL with torn cartilage in his right knee, which began bothering him over the weekend. There are no immediate plans for surgery. … Second baseman Scooter Gennett was back in the lineup a day after illness limited him to pinch hitting.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: Jack Flaherty (4-4) makes his fourth career start against the Reds. He made the shortest start of his career last Sept. 19 at Great American Ball Park, lasting only two innings.

Reds: Sal Romano (5-8) has faced the Cardinals twice, with the Reds losing both games.

— Associated Press —

CINCINNATI (AP) — St. Louis starter Daniel Poncedeleon made a sensational debut 14 months after suffering a severe head injury, throwing no-hit ball for seven innings Monday night before Eugenio Suarez led the Cincinnati Reds’ two-out rally in the ninth for a 2-1 victory over the Cardinals.

Suarez’s two-out, solo homer off Bud Norris (3-3) tied it 1-1. The closer then loaded the bases on a pair of singles and a walk, and pinch-hitter Dilson Herrera singled to end the Reds’ losing streak at four games. Jared Hughes (3-3) pitched the ninth.

The late rally overshadowed Poncedeleon’s incredible comeback.

The 26-year-old right-hander was hit on the right temple by a line drive while pitching for Triple-A Memphis on May 9 last year, fracturing his skull and causing bleeding in the brain. He had emergency surgery followed by months of slow recovery.

Poncedeleon was one of the top pitchers in the Pacific Coast League when St. Louis called him up Monday to help their injury-depleted rotation. He walked three and struck out three, threw 116 pitches and gave way to a pinch-hitter in the eighth with St. Louis up 1-0.

Jordan Hicks gave up a one-out single up the middle by pinch-hitter Phillip Ervin in the eighth for Cincinnati’s first hit. Suarez’s tying homer was only Cincinnati’s second hit. It was Norris’ third blown save in 21 chances.

Matt Carpenter had a pair of hits that extended his streak, including a double in the fifth inning off Luis Castillo. Yadier Molina followed with a single for his 17th RBI against the Reds this season, the most by any major league player against Cincinnati.

Carpenter homered in six straight games last week, a streak that ended on Sunday. He’s 14 for 28 in the last eight games.

ROOKIE SHOW

The Cardinals plan to start three rookies in the series, the first time they’ve had three rookies start in a row since September 1997 when Mike Busby, Matt Morris and Manny Aybar pitched against the Cubs. The last time they had three straight rookie starters before September was in August 1959, when Bob Gibson, Ernie Broglio and Marshall Bridges faced the Phillies, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: Infielder Kolten Wong went on the 10-day DL with a sore left knee, opening a roster spot for Poncedeleon.

Reds: Second baseman Scooter Gennett was sick and out of the lineup. He pinch hit in the ninth and struck out. … Infielder Alex Blandino had surgery to reconstruct his ACL and repair damage to his MCL. He was injured in Friday’s game. His recovery is expected to take between six and eight months.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: LH Austin Gomber (0-0) makes his first major league start after 15 relief appearances this season, including two against the Reds.

Reds: Homer Bailey (1-7) returns from the DL and makes his first start since May 28. He’s been sidelined by a sore right knee. Bailey has made 12 starts for the Reds and has a 6.68 ERA.

— Associated Press —