The St. Louis Cardinals scored early and often Sunday afternoon at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, blasting the Reds 11-7 and prompting the Reds to fire manager Jerry Narron and replace him with Pete Mackanin on an interim basis.
The Cardinals got two home runs from Ryan Ludwick, who belted his 6 th and 7 th homers of the season, driving in a total of 4 runs. Chris Duncan played long ball, as well, hitting his 15 th home run of the season, a two run shot.
Cincinnati went deep, too, hitting three home runs. Brandon Phillips, Ken Griffey, and David Ross each contributed roundtrippers.
Troy Percival (2-0) pitched 1 inning, giving up 1 earned run to get the win. Cincinnati starter Homer Bailey (2-2) took the loss, giving up 7 earned runs in 3 2/3 innings of work.
The Cardinals (36-42) open a series with the Arizona Diamondbacks Monday night at Busch Stadium. Braden Looper (6-6) goes to the mound for St. Louis against Arizona’s Brandon Webb (8-5).