The dirt-smudged base leaned on the floor in front of Billy Hamilton’s locker. An inscription in black ink noted the importance: ”MLB Debut 9/3/13.”

Some debut!

The speedy outfielder who outran everything in the minors got his first stolen base in the majors on Tuesday night, and it decided a game with playoff implications. Hamilton swiped second and came around on Todd Frazier’s double in the seventh inning, sending the Cincinnati Reds to a 1-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.

”That’s my job – stealing in important situations,” said Hamilton, who had brown dirt on both knees from his hard slide into that keepsake base. ”This was a real big situation – a pennant race.”

Hamilton set a professional record by swiping 155 bases in the minors last year. He got an ovation when he made his big league debut as a pinch runner for Ryan Ludwick, who led off the seventh with a single against Seth Maness (5-2).

As he went onto the field, manager Dusty Baker had a word.

”He said, ‘I need you to get to second base,”’ Hamilton said. ”I was like, ‘OK, I got you.”’

The 20,219 fans in the stands and everyone on the field and in the dugouts knew what was coming. Hamilton was about to test one of the toughest catchers in the game. Could he outrun catcher Yadier Molina’s throw?

”We knew that this guy’s electric,” said Frazier, who was at bat. ”I didn’t even know he was going. I saw it out of the corner of my eye and said, ‘Here we go, here’s the challenge.”’

After Maness threw to first three times, Hamilton took off and beat an off-target throw from Molina, who rushed a bit.

”That guy’s the best,” Baker said. ”He’ll throw you out. He was close to throwing Billy out there. The throw was a little high and wide. That’s what happens when you have speed.”

The Cardinals had watched video of Hamilton to get ready for his debut.

”He was just another baserunner,” Maness said. ”We know he’s fast, but you treat him no different. Get the ball to the plate quick and make the throw.

”It was a bang-bang play. That’s baseball.”

Hamilton scored easily on Frazier’s hit and got congratulatory slaps in the dugout.

”It was like we won the World Series there,” Hamilton said.

Homer Bailey (10-10) allowed only two hits in seven innings, retiring his last 14 batters. Aroldis Chapman threw four pitches that registered 103 mph while fanning the heart of the Cardinals’ order in the ninth for his 34th save in 39 chances, completing the two-hitter.

The Cardinals were shut out for the third time in their last six games.

By taking the first two in the four-game series, the Reds snapped the Cardinals’ streak of winning seven straight series between the NL Central rivals. St. Louis is 10-7 against Cincinnati this season.

The head-to-head opportunities are dwindling. Second-place St. Louis is a game and a half ahead of Cincinnati. The Cardinals host the division-leading Pirates for three games next weekend, completing their season series. The Reds play Pittsburgh six times in their last nine games.

The trio has been in a tight pack atop the division most of the season. Currently, all three are in position to make the playoffs.

And now, the Reds have a new way to win a close game.

”Watching Billy run – I can watch that every day,” Frazier said.

They considered calling up the 22-year-old Hamilton last September, but decided he wasn’t ready. A year later, he made good on his first steal attempt and decided a game full of tough pitching and sensational defense.

Michael Wacha, the Cardinals’ top draft pick last year out of Texas A&M, made his fifth career start and blanked the Reds on three hits through six innings.

The Cardinals’ lineup was back to full strength. Carlos Beltran was back in right field after missing two games with a sore back. Molina was back in the lineup after leaving Monday’s game with a sore left wrist.

Bailey is in a good stretch, winning his last five decisions. He held the Cardinals to five hits over 7 1-3 innings during a 10-0 win in St. Louis last Wednesday.

Bailey escaped an early threat. Matt Carpenter opened the game with a single, and Bailey walked Beltran on four pitches, bringing up Matt Holliday. The left fielder has a .375 career average against Bailey, but struck out swinging. Allen Craig grounded into a double play.

Defense had a lot to do with keeping this one close. No surprise there – St. Louis has the fewest errors in the NL, Cincinnati the third-fewest.

— Associated Press —

One very bad and very short day in St. Louis, followed by another bad game in Cincinnati. Adam Wainwright doesn’t understand why he’s having a really tough time getting the Reds out.

Shin-Soo Choo and Joey Votto homered on Monday as Cincinnati roughed up Wainwright for the second start in a row, and Mat Latos went the distance for the first time this season in a 7-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Latos (14-5) credited an offense that seems to have Wainwright’s number.

”It doesn’t matter who we’re playing, but there’s definitely more of an anxiety added when you have a guy like Wainwright,” said Latos, who allowed four hits. ”We were fortunate to be able to get to him today.”

Fortunate? Or maybe they’ve figured him out?

”I don’t know about that,” said Ryan Ludwick, who singled home a run. ”I think we’ve gotten some pitches to hit the last two outings we’ve faced him, and we’ve done damage.”

Latos gave up a pair of singles and a sacrifice fly by Matt Holliday in his fourth career complete game.

The third-place Reds are trying to end the Cardinals’ season-long dominance during their four-game series at Great American Ball Park. St. Louis has won the last seven series between the teams and is 10-6 against Cincinnati this year.

”It starts at one,” Reds manager Dusty Baker said. ”Hopefully this is just a beginning because we’ve got a lot of work to do, a long way to go.”

The Cardinals took two of three in St. Louis last week, the only loss coming when the Reds tagged Wainwright (15-9) for nine runs in a career-low two innings. They hit him hard again on Monday, piling up six runs and 10 hits in six innings.

Wainwright isn’t sure what’s going on with him and the Reds.

”The last time, it was a matter of me leaving too many ball in the middle of the plate,” Wainwright said. ”Today, they hit some good pitches. I feel very strong. I’ve had some good games against them in the past. It’s a head-scratcher, to be honest with you.”

It’s an important series for Cincinnati, which now trails the Cardinals by 2 1/2 games. St. Louis opened the day tied with Pittsburgh for first place. The Reds maintain a comfortable lead for the final NL wild-card spot.

The last time the Cardinals visited Great American Ball Park, they won by scores of 13-3 and 15-2 during a one-sided series that left the Reds embarrassed. This one started much better for them.

Wainwright fell to 5-9 career against Cincinnati. In his last two starts against the Reds, the right-hander has given up 18 hits and 15 runs in only eight innings. He’s 1-3 in four starts against Cincinnati this season with a 7.77 ERA.

”That’s a real good pitcher,” Baker said. ”We have nothing but respect for Wainwright. He’s not the guy that you would exactly choose to face twice a week. It’s a funny game.”

Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina came out of the game in the fifth inning because of a sore left wrist. He was activated off the 15-day disabled list on Aug. 15 after missing 14 games with a sore right knee.

The Reds quickly got to Wainwright. Choo opened the first with a single and scored on Ludwick’s two-out single. Ludwick missed more than three months with torn cartilage in his right shoulder, but the left fielder is starting to get his swing back in shape. Ludwick has driven in a run in each of his last four games.

Zack Cozart singled home a run in the second, and Choo’s two-run homer made it 4-0. Choo leads all major league leadoff hitters with 19 homers. He has three homers during a six-game hitting streak, which includes four multihit games.

Votto hit an up-and-away 1-2 pitch to the opposite field in left for his 21st homer in the fourth inning.

— Associated Press —

Joe Kelly began the season in the St. Louis Cardinals’ bullpen with an electric fastball and an identity crisis.

Consider the crisis solved.

At the moment, Kelly has become The Stopper.

The right-hander allowed four hits over six solid innings to win his fourth straight start and the Cardinals moved back into a tie for first place in the NL Central with a 7-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday.

Kelly (7-3) walked two and struck out five while remaining unbeaten since being moved to the starting rotation full-time in July.

”He’s kind of figured himself out,” St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. ”Early in the season, he was confused. He thought he should be a strikeout guy at 97 (mph), but with the movement on his fastball he’d be crazy not to use that movement to try to command the bottom of the zone and get ground balls, too.”

Kelly received plenty of help from an offense that snapped out of a three-game funk by tagging Pittsburgh spot starter Kris Johnson (0-2).

Matt Holliday and David Freese drove in two runs apiece while Matt Carpenter, Allen Craig, Yadier Molina and Shane Robinson added two hits each for St. Louis.

The Cardinals managed all of one run over the first 18 innings of the series, losses that came at the hands of proven veterans Francisco Liriano and A.J. Burnett. On Sunday they faced a 28-year-old making his first major league start who was nearly out of baseball two years ago.

”For us to come back out in a day game after scoring one run the first two nights was really big,” Freese said. ”It finally gave us a little momentum.”

Pittsburgh’s push for an NL Central title could go down to the wire. The Pirates reclaimed first place with a 7-1 victory Saturday night but St. Louis responded by knocking around Johnson, who took the hill after Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle decided to give struggling All-Star Jeff Locke a much-needed breather.

Locke is 1-2 with a 6.88 ERA in the second half, and Hurdle thought a few days off would allow the left-hander to work on his mechanics and get some rest.

Locke won’t pitch again until next weekend at the earliest. If Pittsburgh decides he needs even more time off, it will likely have to look elsewhere for help after the Cardinals took it to Johnson.

Carpenter doubled to open the game and Robinson followed with a walk. Craig and Molina provided consecutive RBI singles, and Jon Jay added a sacrifice fly to stake Kelly to a 3-0 lead before he threw his first pitch.

The advantage grew in the third when Freese doubled to score Craig and Molina and end Johnson’s day. Two weeks after limiting Arizona to one run in six innings of relief in his first major league appearance, Johnson gave up five runs on seven hits in two-plus innings.

”These are the kind of situations you want to be put in, I just didn’t take advantage of them when I had the chance,” Johnson said. ”I worked all my life to get here and to fall short today, just going to have to get back on the field, get back on the throwing program and get back to where we were before.”

Justin Morneau went 1 for 3 in his debut with the Pirates a day after Pittsburgh acquired the first baseman from Minnesota to bolster the franchise’s bid for its first playoff appearance in 21 years.

Kelly has been a pleasant surprise since moving into the rotation. He never let the Pirates in the game, allowing only an RBI single by Marlon Byrd in the sixth.

By then the Cardinals had things well in hand as baseball’s tightest division race once again drew even.

”My velocity was a lot better than in my last start, my sinker was really working and I was able to pitch to both sides of the plate,” Kelly said.

The Pirates, whose 79 wins are tied for the franchise’s high-water mark since 1992, made two bold moves last week in hopes of drawing ahead. They brought in Byrd and catcher John Buck from the New York Mets on Tuesday, then made an even bigger splash Saturday when they convinced Morneau to leave Minnesota after 11 seasons.

Morneau arrived at PNC Park midway through Saturday night’s blowout and watched the remainder of the game from the dugout. He got a better view on Sunday, playing first base and batting sixth.

The 2006 AL MVP grounded out in his first plate appearance, walked in his second and then lined a single to right field his third time up. He ended his first game for Pittsburgh with a deep fly to the warning track in the ninth.

— Associated Press —