Cincinnati Reds Press Clippings August 6, 2017 THIS DAY IN REDS HISTORY 1981-The owners vote to split the pennant race, with the winners of the two halves of the season competing in an extra round of playoffs for the division title. The Reds are only 0.5 games behind the Dodgers in the first half of the season, leaving them out of the playoffs MLB.COM Bailey tries to continue momentum vs. Cards By John Fay / Special to MLB.com | 7:01 AM ET + 2 COMMENTS The staff veterans will square off in the rubber game as Cardinals right-hander Adam Wainwright (11-5, 4.89 ERA) and the Reds' Homer Bailey (3-5, 7.32 ERA) take the mound at Great American Ball Park. Wainwright will be making his return from the 10-day disabled list with Sunday's start. He was sidelined with mid-back tightness following one of his best starts of the season -- a 7 2/3-inning, two-run no-decision against the Cubs on July 22. He missed two turns through the rotation before being cleared to return. Wainwright got back on the mound Wednesday, when he threw a bullpen session at Miller Park. Said Wainwright afterward: "It was great. It was as good or better than I ever thought it could be … In my mind, there's nothing else I have to prove to be out there and ready to pitch." Wainwright hasn't had great success against the Reds -- 9-11 with a 5.01 ERA in 28 games (23 starts). At Great American, he's 6-4 with a 4.41 ERA in 14 starts. Bailey has been up and down since returning to the rotation after missing nearly all of the last 2 1/2 years with elbow trouble that led to three surgeries. He's coming off one of his better starts. He went six innings and allowed one run on four hits in a 9-1 win in Pittsburgh on Tuesday. It was the third straight start that he pitched at least six innings in. He is 6-11 with a 5.13 ERA in the 21 starts against St. Louis in his career. The last of those starts was in April 2015. Three things to know about this game • Though it'll be a day game following a night game, Yadier Molina is expected to start again behind the plate on Sunday. He's 13- for-36 with three doubles, three homers and five RBIs in his career against Bailey. • Matt Carpenter, who is hitless through the first four games of this road trip, is 17-for-29 vs. Bailey. • Zack Cozart is expected to be activated from the disabled list and in the lineup. Cozart has been on the DL since July 26 with a right quad injury. John Fay is a contributor to MLB.com and covered the Reds on Saturday. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs. Votto hits 28th homer, but Reds can't solve Lynn By Jenifer Langosch and John Fay / MLB.com | 2:20 AM ET + 81 COMMENTS CINCINNATI -- In a start that no one knew with certainty Lance Lynn would make until the non-waiver Trade Deadline passed on Monday, the veteran right-hander extended his run of dominance into a new month while pitching the Cardinals to a 4-1 victory over the Reds on Saturday. The win was St. Louis' first in six tries at Great American Ball Park this season. Paul DeJong nudged the Cardinals in front with a two-run, third-inning homer, one of three hits surrendered by Reds starter Luis Castillo in his 6 1/3-inning start. Lynn made the lead stand with a six-inning start marred only by Joey Votto's first-inning home run. "Lance has been great for us lately, and our starting pitching has been great," DeJong said. "Now we just have to get them some runs and close some games out." Lynn limited the Reds to one hit after that opening inning and ran his ERA over his last six starts to 1.21. "He's an interesting guy to watch," Reds manager Bryan Price said. "You watch him throw and he's easing in these 86, 87 miles an hour fastballs, then here's a 93, 94 when he needs it, or he cuts it in on lefties' hands, or makes a big pitch with a change-up or breaking pitch. "Compared to where he was when he came up and pounded fastballs, he's a completely different pitcher. It's a challenge when you face him." The Cardinals chased Castillo from the game while adding a pair of insurance runs in the seventh. Castillo was charged with four runs (three earned) while walking five on the night. With the win, the Cardinals remain 4 1/2 games back of the Cubs in the National League Central. The Reds entered the game trying to reel off six consecutive home wins over the Cardinals for the first time since 2002-03. "We have to win in bunches," Lynn said, of the team's chances of making a late-season push in the division. "That's pretty much it. We just have to start clicking together. Everyone just needs to concentrate on what their jobs are, and if they do that, good things can happen." MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Long gone: The Reds' streak of four consecutive games without allowing a homer -- the longest such stretch for the club since 2015 -- ended with DeJong's 375-foot blast into the left-field seats. The home run gave the Cardinals their first lead since Wednesday and made DeJong the first player on the team to reach the 15-homer mark this season. Castillo has now surrendered eight home runs in his first nine career Major League starts. "I made a mistake," Castillo said. "I left a two-seamer over the plate. He hit it pretty good." More > Pinch-hit payoff: Rather than try to squeeze one more inning out of Lynn, Cardinals manager Mike Matheny opted to pinch-hit Luke Voit in his place with a runner on first and one out in the seventh. Voit improved to 4-for-11 off the bench with a single to left and then capped the two-run inning with an aggressive run home on a passed ball. Reds catcher Devin Mesoraco might have prevented the other run in the inning, as well, had he been able to corral a throw home on a forceout attempt. "We needed a little more offense," Matheny said. "[Lynn] looked good, but to send him out there at 90 pitches for one more inning when we have a chance in a park like this to send a Luke Voit up there who can bounce a ball out of here in a hurry, turn over our lineup by trying to keep something going, yeah, that was going to be it [for Lynn]." QUOTABLE "Right where the ear and the protector connects, it hit me right there. If I don't have that, I'm spitting out teeth." -- Cardinals second baseman Kolten Wong on taking a 97-mph fastball off the mouth guard he added to his helmet this season UPON FURTHER REVIEW Adam Duvall's first-inning triple was confirmed during a 40-second crew-chief review. Replays showed that the ball struck the top of the wall in center before bouncing back into play. The Reds requested a replay review in the seventh after Voit hustled home to score on a passed ball. After a three-minute, 41-second review, it was determined there was not enough evidence to overturn the initial safe call made by home-plate umpire Lance Barrett. WHAT'S NEXT Cardinals: After missing two starts while nursing mid-back tightness, Adam Wainwright will return to the rotation on Sunday to start the 12:10 p.m. CT rubber game. Wainwright, who went a season-long 7 2/3 innings in his last start on July 22, is 9-11 with a 5.01 ERA in 28 career appearances against the Reds. Reds: Homer Bailey (3-5, 7.32 ERA) gets the start Sunday at Great American Ball Park at 1:10 p.m. ET. Bailey has quality starts in four of his last six outings and is facing the Cardinals for the first time since April 18, 2015. Watch every out-of-market regular-season game live on MLB.TV. Jenifer Langosch has covered the Cardinals for MLB.com since 2012, and previously covered the Pirates from 2007-11. Follow her on Twitter, like her Facebook page and listen to her podcast. John Fay is a contributor to MLB.com and covered the Reds on Saturday. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs. Despite off-night, Castillo keeps game close Reds have chance to win after young righty went 6 1/3 innings By John Fay / Special to MLB.com | 2:23 AM ET + 0 COMMENTS CINCINNATI -- In the Reds' search for arms to man the 2018 rotation, Luis Castillo has emerged from a seemingly endless group of prospects. Although Castillo has pretty much locked up a spot, there are times when he looks like a 24-year-old rookie pitching above Double- A for the first time. Saturday's 4-1 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals was one of those times. Castillo struggled with his control. He ended up going 6 1/3 innings and allowed four runs (three earned) on three hits.