Patrick Kivlehan had a pinch-hit three-run shot off Brett Cecil and Joey Votto followed with a two-run homer off Trevor Rosenthal in a five-run seventh inning and the Cardinals losing streak has now reached six after their 6-4 loss on Wednesday night in Cincinnati. It was also the fifth time in this stretch that the Cardinals had the lead in the seventh inning or later and lost.
Scott Schebler homered off Lance Lynn, who was removed in the fifth inning for a pinch hitter after only 78 pitches and a 3-1 lead.
Matheny thought he was only going to get one more inning out of Lynn and he wanted more offense.
“You hope that when you do go through them, they’re not long,” said Lynn, of the losing streak. “And they’re longer than we would like it right now. We’ve got one more (Thursday). Hopefully we can win that one and get back home and kind of regroup, take a deep breath and get back after it.”
As far as Brett Cecil, it was the fourth lead he has blown and he is now 0-2 on the season.