Reds run away from charitable Cardinals

By Derrick Goold/St. Louis Post-DispatchBefore Billy Hamilton could run, he had to walk. The Cardinals gave him that head start.The Reds’ flash turned a one-out walk in the eighth inning into havoc on the bases and a sacrifice fly that sent Cincinnati speeding off with a 5-4 victory against the Cardinals on Friday night at Great American Ball Park. Hamilton received a four-pitch walk from setup man Jordan Walden and he was off. He stole second. He took third on a wild pitch that catcher Yadier Molina couldn’t locate at his feet. And then he completed his dash by scoring the winner on a routine fly ball to right-centre field.Gold Glove-winning right fielder Jason Heyward’s throw to home plate was enough to get an average runner out. Hamilton laps average.“That guy is so fast,” Walden said. “Don’t want to walk him.”The Cardinals got the tying run on base in the ninth before closer Aroldis Chapman struck out Matt Holliday with a 101 mph fastball to end the game.While the Cardinals’ offence eases into April, Cincinnati continued its unbeaten start to the regular season with its fourth win in the final at-bat. No team has done that since 1912.Joey Votto hit two two-run homers in his first two at-bats, but the Cardinals answered each time. Rookie Randal Grichuk drilled the Cardinals’ first home run of the season for a one-run lead in the second inning. Heyward lashed a single in the seventh to knot the score at 4-4 and put it in the hands of the relievers. Walden allowed Hamilton’s feet to take over.The Reds’ leadoff hitter had a .292 on-base percentage last year, and his 2014 season began with four strikeouts in four at-bats on opening day against the Cardinals. He has improved as a hitter, but all batters look better when given first base. The only times Hamilton reached base Friday night was when the Cardinals walked him. He took second each time -- once on a balk and, in the eighth, on a steal. He scored each time, too.“The way he runs, you’ve got to keep him off the bases,” starter John Lackey said.“He’s a big part of their offense,” manager Mike Matheny said. “Getting on base. Taking the walks. When he gets them it turns into a different game. Especially late.”With Votto on deck, Hamilton accepted the four-pitch walk from Walden. Rather than go to either Kevin Siegrist, who has struck Votto out in four of seven at-bats, or Randy Choate, Matheny stayed with Walden, the team’s new eighth-inning reliever. Matheny explained that they wanted the strapping righthander “in the big innings.” Walden misfired on three fastballs to Hamilton, and the second-year centre fielder stood at first. But not for long.He stole second to allow Walden to pitch around Votto with an intentional walk. Hamilton improved to seven for seven in steal attempts against Molina. With Todd Frazier at the plate, Walden skipped a slider into the dirt. The moment Molina didn’t get a glove on it, Hamilton broke for third and didn’t draw a throw. Having Hamilton on first drew a balk from Lackey in the first inning, and in the eighth it altered how Walden threw. He left a pitch up to Frazier that he could lift for the game-winning fly ball.“I really tried to shorten up my delivery a little bit,” Walden said. “That guy is quick. I’ve got to be quicker. I made a bad pitch to Frazier there. That’s what it is.”In his first start of the season, Lackey needed only 67 pitches to complete six innings. All four runs he allowed came on two swings, both by Votto in the 10th multi-homer game of his career. The second homer scored Reds starter Jason Marquis and gave him a 4-3 lead to protect, which he did to complete his six innings.The last time the Cardinals saw Marquis was also the last time Marquis saw the majors.On July 19, 2013, the former Cardinals righthander had his family come to St. Louis to watch him pitch for the Padres. He had been throwing several years with a torn ligament in his right elbow, and that day was its last. He allowed six runs on eight hits in 5 1/3 innings, and soon after had Tommy John surgery.Marquis did not appear in the majors in 2014, and he signed a minor-league deal to win a spot in the Reds’ rotation this spring. The team managed by his first catcher with the Cardinals and backstopped by his last catcher with the Cardinals took a 1-0 lead on him early.Matt Carpenter walked. Jhonny Peralta drove him home with a two-out double. In the second, Grichuk, making his first start of the season, sent a 1-1 pitch hurtling 431 feet to put the Cardinals ahead 3-2. Marquis retired the next 12 Cardinals he faced. He struck out seven total.“They had an idea of what I was trying to do; both of those guys caught me,” Marquis said. “I’ve made adjustments. It was fun getting back out there with new stuff. I feel revived with where I’m at. I’m excited to go out and attack hitters the way I want.”When Walden couldn’t do that with Hamilton in the eighth, the game sped away from the Cardinals. Frazier’s fly ball went toward right-centre field. Heyward waved centre fielder Grichuk off. He lined himself up for the throw -- one of the finer outfielder arms in the National League against the fastest feet in the division. It wasn’t as close as the throw deserved.Hamilton has scored on shallower fly balls.“It’s got to be perfect,” Heyward said. “To line up the throw as an outfielder you just try to get behind it, get rid of it the best you can, put your best throw you can, be on line with the best throw possible, and after that you did your job. It was a good throw. Doesn’t matter. We didn’t get him.“That’s part of speed."