Abbott continues road success against Cards with clutch quality start

ST. LOUIS -- Andrew Abbott gave the Reds two things they needed most on Sunday afternoon -- length and quality.

A day after Cincinnati used eight pitchers in a bullpen game that went 11 innings in 90-plus-degree heat, Abbott’s seven innings (in the same type of heat) gave the team’s pitching staff a bit of a respite.

“It's always nice to step up when your name's called,” Abbott said. “I wasn't really looking at it as [needing to pitch deep into the game]. I just try to go out and give my best to the team. And [I] had some defense, guys picked me up. The offense had some timely hitting, put some runs on the board to take some pressure off. And then just go out and do what you do.”

The quality came in the one run allowed in those seven innings that helped the Reds salvage the final game of their series against the Cardinals with a 4-1 win at Busch Stadium. Cincinnati also avoided the first sweep to St. Louis in a series of at least three games since April 23-25, 2021.

“I was so happy he got through six [innings],” manager Terry Francona said. “And then he looked in just trying to gauge their [mindset], because you start to know their mannerisms. He came off the field, and you kind of thought, 'OK, you got seven.' And he sure did.”

Abbott wanted the ball for the seventh.

“I gave Tito a thumbs up and said, ‘I'm good to go if you need me to go back out,’” Abbott said. “And he said, 'You look good,' and that was that.”

After throwing 40 pitches to get through the first two innings, Abbott (7-1) settled in and needed just 60 to get through the next five innings. He struck out three, walked none and was aided by a diving catch by first baseman Spencer Steer in the sixth and a sliding catch by center fielder TJ Freidl in the seventh.

In his previous start against the Twins on Tuesday, Abbott allowed five runs, but just one was earned after an inning blew up on him following a throwing error. Abbott was faced with a similar situation in the second on Sunday after Nolan Arenado singled and Thomas Saggese reached on an error to begin the inning.

But after surrendering an RBI single to Yohel Pozo that tied the game at 1, Abbott responded by striking out Jordan Walker, got a nice catch on a pop foul from Jose Trevino for the second out and ended the threat with a Brendan Donovan flyout.

Abbott dominated after the Pozo hit, retiring the final 18 batters he faced.

“To be honest, I didn't even know I retired 18 in a row,” said Abbott, now 3-0 with a 1.53 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP in three career starts at Busch Stadium -- his most wins in any road ballpark. “But like I said, just getting ahead of guys, defense playing really well behind me, making catches.”

Abbott reduced his ERA to 1.79, the lowest for a Reds starter in their first 13 starts of a season since Edinson Vólquez posted a 1.59 ERA through 13 starts in 2008 -- when he made the only All-Star Game appearance of his 15-year career. It was Abbott’s third start this season of at least seven innings with three or fewer hits and no more than one run allowed.

“He's a little old fashioned,” Francona said. “What I mean is, he just adds and subtracts. ... And, I mean, you see he gets some awkward swings.”

Matt McLain drove a Miles Mikolas sinker into the Cardinals’ bullpen for an opposite-field solo homer to give the Reds a lead in the first. McLain, who had a season-high three hits on Saturday and five total in this series, extended his hitting streak to career-best-tying 10 games.

The Reds snapped a 1-1 tie with back-to-back doubles by Trevino and Jake Fraley in the fifth. Friedl made the Cardinals pay for a passed ball that allowed Fraley to take third with a sacrifice fly to make it 3-1.

Fraley’s double snapped an 0-for-13 slump in his career against Mikolas.

Elly De La Cruz added to Cincinnati's lead with a leadoff double in the sixth. He advanced to third on a groundout and, with St. Louis' infield in, easily scored on a grounder to short.

“I think we're starting to figure it out on all ends, defense, offense and then pitching -- just remaining steady,” Abbott said. “Bullpen’s been dogs the entire year. And I just think we had some bad luck in the first few games. But just keep playing hard and those breaks will happen for us eventually.”

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