The Cardinals blew a 3-1 lead and eventually lost to the Reds 11-4 on Tuesday. After Sean Casey gave the Reds a 1-0 lead with a fielder’s choice RBI, St. Louis responded with three runs in the second inning. So Taguchi singled in a run, Yadier Molina drove in a run with a sacrifice fly and starting pitcher Jason Marquis ended the rally with an RBI single.

The Reds didn’t stay quiet for long. In the bottom half of the inning, they took the lead with a solo home run from Joe Randa and a three-run shot off the bat of Javier Valentin to make it 5-3. In the third, they knocked Marquis out with a five-run rally which put the game out of reach.

Marquis (8-5) was charged with six runs off seven hits and three walks to get the loss. After jumping out to an 8-3 record, Marquis has dropped his last two starts. In those two starts he’s allowed 11 runs, 15 hits, six walks and has one strikeout in 7 1/3 innings of work.

Earlier in the day, Dave Miley was fired as the Reds’ manager and bench coach Jerry Narron was promoted to interim manager. Before the game, the Reds were in last place in the N.L. Central and were 18 ½ games out of first place.