Cardinals outfielder Shane Robinson scales the wall in an effort to reach a ball off the bat of Cincinnati Reds Juan Francisco in the ninth inning. UPI/Bill Greenblatt
Juan Francisco hit a three-run homer and drove in five runs and Yonder Alonso had a two-run homer and scored three runs as the Reds beat the Cardinals 11-8 on Friday night at Busch Stadium, ending the Cardinals’ four-game winning streak and dropping them back to 8.5 behind Milwaukee who beat Houston.
The Reds jumped on Chris Carpenter in the second with five runs and the Cardinals were playing catch up all night from that point on. The Cardinals cut it to 8-7 on an RBI single by Rafael Furcal in the eighth, Francisco gave the Reds plenty of insurance with a two-out, three-run shot off reliever Kyle McClellan in the ninth.
Furcal and David Freese each had a solo home run and an RBI single for St. Louis, and Jon Jay was 2 for 3 with two runs scored. Holliday added a solo homer in the ninth off Cincinnati reliever Francisco Cordero.