CINCINNATI — Joey Votto got mobbed at home plate and then doused with a water cooler, a rare joyous moment in his subpar season.
Votto homered with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning on Tuesday night, powering the Cincinnati Reds to a 7-6 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals after they blew a five-run lead for the second straight game.
Votto connected off left-hander Kevin Siegrist (4-1) for his fifth career game-ending homer and Cincinnati’s third homer of the game. The Reds have won five of their last six games overall. This one was especially satisfying for Votto, who started the game batting .221.
“I’m hitting .220 and it’s June,” Votto said. “I am frustrated, and we’re losing a lot. Today, we didn’t lose. That’s a good feeling.”
Another one almost slipped away. They blew a five-run lead and lost to the Nationals 10-9 in their last game. This one nearly followed the same script until Votto homered on a 2-0 pitch.
“That was special,” manager Bryan Price said. “Siegrist has been hard on us since he came into the league – on everybody, really. Joey took advantage of a 2-0 pitch and brought us to this place. It’s a nice place to be.”
Cincinnati pulled ahead 6-1 with the help of Adam Duvall’s three-run homer off Mike Leake, his fourth homer in five games. The Reds got Duvall from the Giants as part of a trade for Leake last July, and the right-hander signed with St. Louis in the offseason.
Left-hander John Lamb shut down the Cardinals with his 65 mph curveball, allowing only one earned run in a career-high 7 1/3 innings. That’s when the major leagues’ worst bullpen let another late lead get away.
Blake Wood gave up Jhonny Peralta’s bases-loaded double in the eighth, cutting it to 6-4. Matt Carpenter tied it with a one-out, two-run double in the ninth off Tony Cingrani (1-2), the Reds’ 12th blown save in 19 chances this season.
Carpenter tried to stretch his hit to a triple, setting up a potential go-ahead run, and was initially ruled safe at third, but the call was overturned after a review.
“You don’t feel good about a comeback unless you win,” Carpenter said.
Duvall hit his 17th homer off Leake, the second-highest total in the NL. He hit his first career homer off Leake with the Giants in 2014. In its last seven games, Cincinnati has scored 62 runs.
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