Ozuna drives in five as Cardinals defeat Reds 6-3

ST. LOUIS — Marcell Ozuna hit a three-run homer and drove in five runs as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Cincinnati Reds 6-3 on Saturday.

Ozuna’s 10th home run of the season came after the Reds took a 2-0 lead in the top of the third.

Ozuna became the third Cardinals player to hit at least 10 home runs in March and April, joining Mark McGwire who hit 11 in 1998 and Albert Pujols who holds the franchise mark with 14 in 2006.

Ozuna gave the Cardinals a 5-2 lead in the fifth when he hit a two-out double off the right field wall, scoring Paul Goldschmidt and Paul DeJong.

Dakota Hudson (2-1) allowed three runs and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings as he pitched into the sixth inning for the first time as a major league starter.

Jordan Hicks pitched a scoreless ninth for his eighth save in nine chances.

Cardinals outfielder Harrison Bader drove in a run with a single in the sixth for his first hit since being activated from the injured list on Wednesday.

Tyler Mahle (0-3) allowed five runs and seven hits and three walks in five innings.

The Reds scored twice in the top of the third. With a runner on second and one out, Jose Peraza singled to left to score Scott Schebler who led off with a walk and advanced to second on a sac bunt.

With two outs, Eugenio Suarez drove in Peraza with a single to right field and advanced to second when Jose Martinez bobbled the ball.

Jesse Winker appeared to extend the rally with a single to center field, but Dexter Fowler unleashed a one-hop throw to the plate to catcher Yadier Molina, who tagged out Suarez to end the inning.

The Reds added a run in the sixth on Derek Dietrich’s sac fly.

Shildt feels like Ozuna is finally healthy and showing the impact he can make: “He’s a really, really good player with a lot of different special skill sets, and now — thankfully for him and us — he’s in a place that he can use his skills.” #STLCards pic.twitter.com/mnppS9rlue

— FOX Sports Midwest (@FSMidwest) April 27, 2019

HITTING STREAKS

Molina extended his hitting streak to 14 games with a single in the fourth. Teammate Paul Goldschmidt extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a single in the third.

MOLINA MILESTONE

Molina made his 1,797th start at catcher, passing Benito Santiago for seventh place in MLB history.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Reds: LHP Alex Wood (back spasms) suffered a setback and was scratched from his scheduled bullpen session in Goodyear, Ariz.

Cardinals: RHP Carlos Martinez will throw one more side session on Monday before the club makes a decision on where to continue his rehab.

UP NEXT:

Reds: RHP Sonny Gray (0-3, 3.65 ERA) will be making his first career appearance against the Cardinals.

Cardinals: RHP Jack Flaherty (2-1, 5.25) is 0-2 with a 4.41 ERA in four starts against Cincinnati. The Reds and the San Francisco Giants are the only teams Flaherty has made multiple starts against without earning a win.