Maybe I should stop throwing it, especially since that's not the first time it happened. Bad things seem to keep happening to the Reds, who sent two more players for MRIs on Friday and had a patchwork lineup take them within one strike of a rare home win. The Cardinals won for the 13th time in 17 games by rallying in a steady rain in the ninth. Edgar Renteria and Kerry Robinson singled with one out, and Paquette came to bat with two outs and the 24,590 wet fans on their feet, ready to celebrate. Paquette fell behind 0-2 in the count, took a ball, fouled off a pitch and then hit his fourth homer to left, starting a celebration on the bases that carried over into the Cardinals' dugout.
Graves is usually lights-out in that situation.
Dave Veres pitched the ninth for his sixth save in as many chances. Alex Ochoa, elevated to leadoff in Cincinnati's depleted lineup, homered and singled to help the Reds take a 4-2 lead into the ninth. Ochoa, who had not batted leadoff since 1996, hit the second pitch from Andy Benes for his third homer to get the Reds out of their offensive funk. Cincinnati was coming off a 3-0 shutout by Jon Lieber that ended its streak of scoring in 208 consecutive games, an NL record. Ochoa also singled during a three-run fifth inning that put the Reds ahead.