CINCINNATI (AP) — St. Louis kept Scooter Gennett in check a day after his four-homer game, but Patrick Kivlehan had a pinch three-run shot that sparked the Cincinnati Reds to a 6-4 victory on Wednesday night, extending the Cardinals’ longest losing streak in four years.

The Cardinals have dropped six in a row. They let a 4-1 lead slip away when Kivlehan — another utility player like Gennett — and Joey Votto homered during a five-run seventh inning.

Gennett became the first Reds player to homer four times in a game during the 13-1 win a night earlier. He connected in his last four at-bats and had a chance for more history on Wednesday — nobody has homered in five straight plate appearances.

Using the same tan bat that produced five hits overall the previous night, Gennett grounded into a double play his first time up against Lance Lynn, ending his homer streak. He also struck out, hit into another double play and singled as part of the Reds’ go-ahead rally.

Kivlehan’s first career pinch-hit homer off Brett Cecil (0-2) tied it 4-4. Votto’s two-run homer off Trevor Rosenthal finished the eight-batter rally.

Scott Schebler had a homer among his three hits for the Reds, who have won all three games in a series that ends on Thursday. They have taken back-to-back series against St. Louis for the first time since 2011, and have won 10 of their last 15 games overall against the NL Central rival.

Wandy Peralta (3-1) got the win in relief of Bronson Arroyo. Raisel Iglesias pitched the ninth, staying perfect in 11 save chances.

The Cardinals built their early lead with the help of Matt Carpenter’s solo homer off Arroyo, who has given up a major league-leading 20 this season. Sixteen of them have been solo shots.

CARDINALS MOVES

The Cardinals called up utility player Chad Huffman and optioned RHP John Gant to Triple-A Memphis. Gant gave up two of Gennett’s four homers on Tuesday night.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: CF Dexter Fowler, who is 3 for 16 on the trip, got a day out of the starting lineup but had a pinch RBI double. Carpenter batted leadoff for the first time this season.

Reds: RHP Homer Bailey will make a rehab appearance Friday for Double-A Pensacola. He had spurs removed from his pitching elbow before the start of spring training. He’s not expected back until late June at the earliest.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: RHP Mike Leake (5-4) has yet to beat his former team. He’s 0-3 in six career starts against the Reds with a 4.95 ERA. St. Louis has lost all six games.

Reds: RHP Scott Feldman (4-4) lasted only 4 1/3 innings in a 6-5 loss to Atlanta on Saturday, giving up five runs and seven hits.

— Associated Press —

CINCINNATI (AP) — Scooter Gennett hit four home runs , matching the major league record, and finished with 10 RBI as the Cincinnati Reds routed the slumping St. Louis Cardinals 13-1 on Tuesday night.

Gennett became the 17th player to homer four times in one game — and perhaps the least likely. A scrappy second baseman who was claimed off waivers from Milwaukee in late March, he began the night with 38 career home runs in five seasons, including three this year.

Josh Hamilton was the previous player to hit four home runs in one game, for Texas against Baltimore in May 2012.

The 27-year-old Gennett singled his first time up and then homered in four straight at-bats , including a grand slam . His 10 RBI tied Cincinnati’s club record.

Gennett snapped an 0-for-19 slump during the Reds’ 4-2 win over the Cardinals on Monday. He went 5 for 5 on Tuesday and raised his batting average 32 points to .302.

Since being picked up by the Reds late in spring training, Gennett has played a utility role for Cincinnati. He started in left field Tuesday night.

The last National League player to hit four home runs in one game was Shawn Green for the Los Angeles Dodgers against Milwaukee in May 2002.

Gennett hit an RBI single and his second career slam off St. Louis starter Adam Wainwright (6-4), who brought a long scoreless streak into the game but couldn’t handle a team that has hit him like no other. He lasted only 3 2/3 innings and gave up nine runs for just the third time in his career.

The last time? Also against Cincinnati in 2013.

Gennett’s grand slam was the first Wainwright had allowed since 2012.

Eugenio Suarez’s bases-loaded triple in the fourth ended Wainwright’s outing. Gennett followed with his fifth homer of the season off John Gant, and then hit a solo shot off the right-hander.

Gennett got his second curtain call of the game after his two-run shot off John Brebbia in the eighth.

Tim Adleman (4-2) gave up one run — on Stephen Piscotty’s homer — in seven innings.

The Cardinals have dropped a season-high five straight and eight of their last 10.

The Reds have won three in a row against the Cardinals for the first time since 2015. They’ve taken nine of their last 14 against St. Louis.

Wainwright’s streak of scoreless innings ended at 17 in the first. Billy Hamilton tapped a grounder that the Cardinals let roll, and it stopped on the first base line. He advanced on a groundout and scored on Gennett’s single that got the Reds rolling.

Wainwright fell to 9-11 career against Cincinnati with a 5.01 ERA.

REDS MOVES

The Reds reinstated left-handed reliever Tony Cingrani from the disabled list and optioned right-hander Lisalverto Bonilla to Triple-A Louisville. Cingrani had been sidelined April 21 with a strained right oblique. Bonilla was 1/3 with a 7.43 ERA in four starts and two relief appearances.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: Rookie INF Paul DeJong made his first start at shortstop in place of Aledmys Diaz, who got a day off. DeJong has started eight games at second base, but played both positions in the minors.

Reds: RF Scott Schebler was out of the lineup for the third straight game with a sore left shoulder, but came in on defense after the Reds built their big lead.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: RHP Lance Lynn (4-3) gave up only one run in six innings of a 7-5 win over the Reds at Busch Stadium on April 28. He is 9-4 career against Cincinnati.

Reds: RHP Bronson Arroyo (3-4) is coming off one of the best outings of his comeback season. He allowed only two runs in six innings of a 3-2 victory over Atlanta on Friday.

— Associated Press —

CINCINNATI (AP) — Carlos Martinez dominated the Cincinnati Reds for six innings, and the slumping St. Louis Cardinals still found a way to give up the lead on the way to another loss.

Eugenio Suarez and Scooter Gennett hit consecutive two-run doubles in the seventh inning, and Cincinnati came from behind to beat St. Louis 4-2 on Monday night.

Martinez (4-5) was almost perfect through six innings before wilting in the seventh as the Cardinals dropped their fourth straight and eighth in 11 games.

“It’s been frustrating, but I think our team will remain united and get through this negative period,” Martinez said through a translator. “You’ve got to keep your mind positive.”

The Reds had lost two in a row and five of six going into the opener of this four-game series.

Martinez, who was 4-1 with a 2.03 ERA in his previous six starts, faced the minimum 18 batters through six innings with the help of catcher Yadier Molina, who threw out major league stolen base leader Billy Hamilton trying to swipe third in the first inning and Adam Duvall attempting to steal second in the second.

“He was as dominant as you can be,” St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said about Martinez. “It snowballed in a hurry. You’ve got to make plays to get outs. The next thing you know, your back’s up against the wall.”

Martinez retired 14 straight batters after Duvall’s leadoff single before the Reds got to him in the seventh, loading the bases with nobody out. Suarez sent a line drive to center field that Dexter Fowler dropped while sprinting toward the wall.

“We were facing an ace,” Reds manager Bryan Price said. “It looked like he was on. He didn’t give us much to be excited about. Then we get a bunt hit.�It’s the things you have to do.”

Left-hander Kevin Siegrist was brought in to face the left-handed-hitting Gennett, who snapped an 0-for-19 slump with a double down the right-field line.

“This is a crazy game,” Gennett said. “You can do everything right. You can hit the ball hard and get nothing or you can make soft contact like I did�tonight�and get a double. The more you play the game, you understand that hitless streaks are going to happen. You just embrace it and do the best you can.”

Lisalverto Bonilla (1-3) pitched a perfect inning and Raisel Iglesias struck out three in a hitless ninth to remain perfect in 10 save chances.

Asher Wojciechowski tossed six effective innings in his second major league start for the Reds. Wojciechowski allowed eight hits and two runs with two walks and five strikeouts in six innings against St. Louis after giving up four hits, including three homers, and four runs over four innings last Tuesday at Toronto.

“I was focusing on fastball location,” Wojciechowski said. “They made good plays behind me — two double plays.”

Wojciechowski faced the minimum nine batters through three innings and didn’t permit a hit until Matt Carpenter’s one-out single in the fourth. But the Cardinals bunched together five hits in a two-run fifth, including Tommy Pham’s RBI double and Martinez’s safety squeeze that scored Pham from third.

Martinez’s bunt pushed Paul DeJong to second base, but he was thrown out at the plate trying to score on Fowler’s single to left field — the first of Duvall’s two assists in the game.

“Those throws by Duvall were huge,” Wojciechowski said. “It gives you confidence and you know you only have to get one more out.”

Matheny had no problem with either runner trying to advance.

“You’ve got to let guys use their heads,” he said. “Sometimes, they get it right. Sometimes, they don’t. It would’ve been nice to get a little more there. We had some momentum going.”

MR. CONSISTENT

Reds SS Zack Cozart singled twice and has reached base in 27 consecutive games, the longest streak in the majors.

MOWED DOWN

Duvall, who entered with one outfield assist in 53 games, got two in two innings against the Cardinals. In addition to cutting down DeJong at the plate in the fifth, Duvall threw out Stephen Piscotty at third base in the sixth.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Reds: Hamilton returned to the lineup after missing Sunday’s game with a strained left shoulder sustained while trying to make a diving catch Saturday. … RF Scott Schebler, who left Saturday’s game with the same injury after making a diving catch, missed his second straight start.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: Veteran RHP Adam Wainwright (6-3) takes a streak of 16 1/3 scoreless innings into Tuesday’s start against the Reds. Wainwright has allowed one run in his last four starts.

Reds: RHP Tim Adleman (3-2), who is 1-0 with a 1.93 ERA over his last two starts, set career highs by allowing eight hits and six runs in 5 1/3 innings during his April 28 start at St. Louis.

— Associated Press —

CHICAGO (AP) — Ian Happ’s first home run wound up in the street, and his second drew a curtain call from the screaming crowd.

Not a bad night for the prized rookie, and it turned out well for the Cubs, too.

Happ hit two homers, pinch hitter Jon Jay drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh with a single and Chicago beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-6 on Sunday to complete a three-game sweep.

Happ broke out of a 4-for-32 slump by staking Chicago to a 6-4 lead with his solo drive in the third and a three-run shot in the fourth against Michael Wacha. The first homer hugged the right-field line , bouncing onto Sheffield Avenue, and the second whipped fans into a frenzy. Happ came back out of the dugout and tipped his helmet to the screaming crowd.

“Awesome, awesome moment,” he said. “These fans are unbelievable.”

Jay broke a 6-6 tie with his two-out single off Matt Bowman (1-2) in the seventh. Anthony Rizzo had three hits and scored the go-ahead run, and the Cubs (28-27) moved back over .500 with their 10th home win in 12 games. They also swept three from the Cardinals at Wrigley Field for the first time since 2006, and they did it after an 0-6 trip against the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego.

Cubs players held a meeting before the final game against the Padres that was more of a reminder of who they are than a clear-the-air session.

“It was nothing big,” Jay said. “Not a big deal at all. Just reminding ourselves what we can do.”

Stephen Piscotty hit a three-run homer in the fourth off Kyle Hendricks. The Cardinals tied it with two in the sixth against Hector Rondon, only to lose for the eighth time in 11 games.

“I’d say we’ve had two weeks of being in every single game,” manager Mike Matheny said. “Two weeks of having multiple games that we typically would put away and for whatever reason, they’re just hard to finish now. They’re always hard to finish here.”

Singles by Rizzo and Jason Heyward put runners on first and second with two outs in the seventh. Jay — batting for Pedro Strop — lined a single to center and Rizzo crossed the plate before Heyward got tagged out in a rundown between second and third.

Strop (2-2) threw 1 2/3 scoreless innings. Carl Edwards Jr. retired the side in the eighth. Koji Uehara worked a perfect ninth for his second save in four chances after Wade Davis closed the previous two games.

Hendricks gave up four runs and four hits in four innings.

Pounded in back-to-back losses to the Dodgers, Wacha lasted just 4 1/3 innings, allowing six runs and six hits. The Cardinals had just scored four in the fourth when Chicago answered with five in the bottom half after the first two batters were retired.

“That’s on me,” he said. “They’ve been giving me a lead out there, and I’ve just been serving it right back to them and that’s not the way to go about it. Whenever we get a lead, that starter is supposed to keep that lead for us and I haven’t been doing that.”

GYORKO RETURNS

Cardinals third baseman Jedd Gyorko singled and scored. The slugger missed two games to be with his wife Karley, who had a girl named Brooklyn Ellee on Tuesday. With Gyorko back from paternity leave, St. Louis optioned outfielder Magneuris Sierra to Double-A Springfield. The 21-year-old Sierra debuted last month and is 12 for 32 with hits in all eight games he has played in. He is the first Cardinals rookie with a hit in each of his first eight games since Homer Smoot did it in 1902.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: INF/OF Kolten Wong (strained left elbow) will likely begin a minor-league rehab assignment in the next couple of days, manager Mike Matheny said. Wong played 41 games this season, hitting .278 with one homer and 16 RBI before going on the DL on May 28.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: St. Louis sends surging RHP Carlos Martinez (4-4, 3.08 ERA) to the mound as the Cardinals open a four-game series against the Cincinnati Reds. Martinez is 4-1 in his past seven starts and has lowered his ERA from 4.76. RHP Asher Wojciechowski (1-0, 5.63) pitches for the Reds.

Cubs: Chicago begins a three-game series against Miami, with RHP Eddie Butler (2-1, 4.42) pitching for the Cubs and RHP Dan Straily (4-3, 3.56) going for the Marlins.

— Associated Press —

CHICAGO (AP) — Despite a frustrating first two months of the season, Kyle Schwarber has focused on remaining upbeat.

“I always try to stay as positive and as mentally strong as possible because I know how crazy this game can be,” he said. “You have your highest highs, your lowest lows, but you have to stay the same person.”

Saturday was the highest of highs for the slumping slugger.

Schwarber hit his first career grand slam in the bottom of the seventh inning to rally the Chicago Cubs to a 5-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Schwarber, who entered batting .163 and was dropped to the ninth spot in the lineup, hit the first pitch of the at-bat from St. Louis starter Mike Leake (5-4) deep into the bleachers in left-center.

“It was where we wanted to go, but it was slightly elevated and slightly over the plate too much for him,” Leake said.

Javier Baez also homered for Chicago, which has won two straight following a six-game losing streak.

Yadier Molina homered and Jose Martinez had two RBI for the Cardinals.

Hector Rondon (1-1) pitched a scoreless seventh to earn the win. Wade Davis got the final three outs for his 12th save.

Leake, who entered leading the National League with a 2.24 ERA, allowed five runs and six hits in 6 2/3 innings.

The Cardinals grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first inning off Cubs starter Jon Lester on a two-run broken bat single by Martinez.

Leake retired the first six batters before Baez led off the third with a long homer to straightaway center to trim the lead in half.

Molina got the run back in the sixth with a two-out solo shot to make it 3-1.

That’s where it stayed until the bottom of the seventh. Jason Heyward and Willson Contreras each singled to put runners on first and third with one out. Leake then struck out Baez with a slider well off the plate and appeared on the verge of getting out of the jam.

But he hit pinch hitter Jon Jay with a pitch to load the bases. St. Louis manager Mike Matheny had left-hander Kevin Siegrist warming in the bullpen, but opted to stay with Leake against Schwarber, who had grounded out and struck out in his previous at-bats.

“He had a five-pitch inning the inning before,” Matheny said of Leake. “He looked good. We made a decision to let him get that last out and it didn’t work.”

It worked out well for the Cubs. Any player hitting a slam to turn a game around would be excited — it was the first go-ahead slam in the seventh or later by the Cubs since 2012 — but Schwarber was especially pumped.

Manager Joe Maddon said his hand really hurt after a high five.

“Yeah, I gave him a little extra,” Schwarber said. “It was an exciting moment, it was a big moment. To put us ahead in that spot and hold those guys off for the win was big.”

PICKOFF ARTIST

Since joining the Cubs in 2015, Lester has become infamous for his reluctance to throw to first base. Runners have taken advantage by taking huge leads and essentially daring the left-hander to pick them off.

It happened in the fifth inning when Lester picked off Tommy Pham. Lester stepped off and lobbed a soft throw to first baseman Anthony Rizzo. Pham, who had a huge lead, hesitated and was easily tagged out.

It was Lester’s first pickoff since 2015.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cubs: SS Addison Russell essentially was given a mental health day off. With Russell struggling at the plate — he entered batting .213 and was hitless in last three games — Maddon felt it was a good time to let him sit and watch.

UP NEXT

Cubs RHP Kyle Hendricks (4-3, 3.75 ERA) and Cardinals RHP Michael Wacha (2-3, 3.99) square off in the series finale on Sunday night. Both are looking to bounce back from rough starts. Hendricks gave up five runs in five innings against the Padres on May 29, snapping a streak of 48 starts giving up four runs or less. Wacha lasted just three innings against the Dodgers on May 30, allowing four runs (three earned).

— Associated Press —