Chris Carpenter gave, what may have been his best performance of the season. He lasted eight innings and gave up one run off three hits a walk and 11 strikeouts. However, his almost complete mastery of the Reds wasn’t good enough for a win. Sean Casey hit a solo home run off Carpenter in the sixth inning for the only run of the game as the Reds topped the Cardinals 1-0. Reds starter Aaron Harang was just a little bit better than Carpenter on Thursday—he also gave up three hits and a walk, but didn’t give up any runs. Tony Womack had two of the Cardinals hits with singles in the first and third innings. Larry Walker’s two-out single in the ninth accounted for the other base hit, but Albert Pujols grounded out in the next at-bat to end the game. The Cardinals dropped two of three to the Reds, losing their first series in over a month and only their second since the All-Star Break.