Heading into the second game of their series against the St. Louis Cardinals, manager Dusty Baker knew his struggling Reds couldn’t wait much longer to break out of their week-long funk.

”We need to beat these Cardinals,” Baker said. ”We can’t have them thinking they can just throw their gloves out there and beat us.”

This time, the Reds applied the beating.

Devin Mesoraco drove in three runs with a pair of homers, and the Reds finally broke out against a St. Louis team that has held them down all season, beating the Cardinals 8-3 on Saturday night to even their series.

The Reds won for only the fourth time in 11 games between the NL Central rivals. Cincinnati had scored fewer than four runs in each of their last nine games head-to-head.

”It’s pretty big,” left-hander Tony Cingrani said. ”We’ve been on a pretty rough stretch.”

And not just against St. Louis. The defending NL Central champions are mired in third place because their offense has gone missing, scoring four or fewer runs in each of the last seven games. Jack Hannahan singled home a pair of runs in the first inning, and the Reds were back in the swing.

”That calms everybody down,” Mesoraco said. ”Now you’re coming back, you feel good and confident.”

Cingrani (5-1) and four relievers contained an offense that had scored 26 runs in the last two games, allowing four hits.

Jake Westbrook (7-6) gave up five runs – all with two outs – in five innings. Hannahan singled with the bases loaded in the first inning. Mesoraco’s homer in the fourth made it 4-1.

The catcher hit a solo shot in the eighth off Michael Blazek for the first multihomer game of his career. Shin-Soo Choo followed with a two-run homer off Blazek.

The Cardinals ended a seven-game losing streak by beating the Pirates 13-0 on Thursday, then came to Cincinnati and drubbed the Reds 13-3 on Friday night. It was the first time since 2003 that they scored 13 runs in back-to-back games.

They got off to a fast start against Cingrani, making his first career appearance against the Cardinals. Jon Jay opened the game with a walk and came around on Carlos Beltran’s double. Cingrani bounced his next pitch, letting Beltran move to third, but that’s all the Cardinals would manage as the left-hander escaped the 30-pitch inning down only 1-0.

Cingrani left after the Cardinals loaded the bases with no outs in the sixth. Grounders by Rob Johnson and pinch-hitter Matt Carpenter drove in runs that cut it to 5-3.

Westbrook threw a five-hitter for a 10-0 win over Cincinnati on April 10. He lost his shutout right away this time. Westbrook gave up a hit and a pair of walks in the first, including an intentional walk to Jay Bruce that brought up Hannahan with the bases loaded and two outs. Hannahan, who was 0 for 4 career against Westbrook, lined a 2-2 pitch to center for a 2-1 lead.

”The hit of the game was the two-out hit by Jack Hannahan,” Baker said. ”It was nice to see some of the guys swinging that way tonight. It looked pretty good tonight.”

It was the second game in a row that Westbrook had trouble in the opening inning. He gave up four runs in the first inning of a 9-2 loss in Pittsburgh on Monday.

”I couldn’t finish off innings,” Westbrook said. ”I’d get a couple of quick outs and I couldn’t put them away. That was a subpar performance for me. I felt like I pitched better today than in my last start. I was making decent pitches.”

Mesoraco’s homer was only the fifth that Westbrook has allowed in his 16 starts this season.

Westbrook walked five batters in five innings, and three of them scored. Joey Votto got the second of his three walks with two outs in the fifth and came around on Brandon Phillips’ double.

— Associated Press —

With their hitting slump a thing of the past, the Cardinals can relax and focus on getting back into first place.

It’s only a half-game away.

David Freese set the tone with a bases-loaded double in the first inning, and Daniel Descalso hit two of the Cardinals’ three homers on Friday night as St. Louis pulled away to a 13-3 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.

The Cardinals have emerged from a deep hitting slump by scoring 13 runs in each of their last two games. It’s the first time this season they’ve had double-digit run totals in consecutive games.

”Our guys put so much pressure on themselves,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. ”They’re perfectionists. It was frustrating for a quite a few days. It was good to see some energy. I hope we can keep riding it.”

While the Cardinals have emerged from their hitting slump, the Reds are still stuck in theirs.

Shelby Miller (11-7) limited Cincinnati to two singles over the first five innings before Joey Votto hit a three-run homer in the sixth. The Reds managed only six hits, five of them singles. They’ve been held to three or fewer runs in six of their last seven games.

”I felt really good,” Miller said. ”That was some of the best stuff I had all year. I kind of let it get away from me in the sixth inning. I guess I kind of lost my focus, which is something that shouldn’t let happen.”

In every respect, it was a night the Reds wanted to forget.

”This is a game that depends upon how short a memory you have,” outfielder Jay Bruce said.

Bronson Arroyo (9-9) matched his season high by giving up seven runs in only 3 2-3 innings, his shortest outing of the season.

Freese also had a bases-loaded walk, giving him four RBIs. Allen Craig and Carlos Beltran each had three hits as St. Louis piled up 14 in all.

The 13 runs were the most allowed by Cincinnati this season.

”These guys were cold coming in here and all of a sudden – Boom! – everybody looks hot,” Reds manager Dusty Baker said.

The Cardinals improved to 7-3 against the Reds this season, keeping the defending NL Central champions at arm’s length. They moved to a half-game behind first-place Pittsburgh. Cincinnati stayed 5 1/2 games back.

Both teams were coming off tough weeks set up by a lack of offense.

The Cardinals lost four of five in Pittsburgh and seven straight overall, allowing the Pirates to take over the top spot. St. Louis managed a total of only 10 runs during the seven-game losing streak, which ended with a 13-0 victory in Pittsburgh on Thursday.

The Reds had trouble scoring runs on the West Coast while dropping five of their last six games there.

Which one would break out first in the weekend series?

The Cardinals. Emphatically.

They quickly got to Arroyo, who had trouble getting his pitches to go where he wanted. The Cardinals loaded the bases on a pair of hits and a walk with one out in the first, and Freese doubled off the wall in center for a 3-0 lead. Jon Jay followed with an RBI single on Arroyo’s 24th pitch.

Just what the Cardinals needed to relax a little.

”That was big,” Matheny said. ”It’s what got us going there. I’ve always been a big believer in the team that scores early has a better chance to win the game.”

It never got much better for Arroyo, who has faced the Cardinals more than any other opponent in his career and had far more bad times than good. He fell to 8-16 in 37 career starts against St. Louis.

Curtis Partch relieved Arroyo in the fourth and walked the first three batters he faced, including Matt Holliday and Freese with the bases loaded. Jay’s double made it 9-0.

Descalso hit a pair of solo shots for the first multihomer game of his career, and Craig had a two-run shot as St. Louis pulled away. The Cardinals hit only nine homers in July, including one after the All-Star break.

— Associated Press —