Rhett Lowder earned his first career big-league victory as the visiting Cincinnati Reds blanked the St. Louis Cardinals 3-0 on Tuesday night.
Lowder (1-1) held the Cardinals to five hits in five innings. He struck out three and didn’t issue a walk. Justin Wilson, Tony Santillan, Brent Suter and Emilio Pagan each pitched one inning of relief to complete the shutout.
Pagan escaped a bases-loaded jam in the ninth to earn his first save of the year.
TJ Friedl drove in two runs for the Reds (71-75), who won for the seventh time in nine games. St. Louis (72-72) lost for the third time in four games.
Cincinnati manager David Bell was ejected in the sixth inning by plate umpire Larry Vanover for arguing balls and strikes.
Cardinals starting pitcher Andre Pallante (6-8) allowed three runs on six hits and five walks in five innings. He struck out six.
Pallante escaped trouble in the first inning, retiring the next two batters after Elly De La Cruz walked and stole both second and third.
The Reds left two more runners stranded in the second inning. Jake Fraley walked with two outs and reached third on Santiago Espinal’s single, but Amed Rosario struck out to end the frame.
Cincinnati threatened again in the fourth inning. Ty France hit a one-out single and went to third on Fraley’s double, but Pallante retired the next two batters to escape another jam.
The Reds took a 3-0 lead in the fifth inning. Jonathan India walked, De La Cruz hit a single and Pallante’s wild pitch moved the runners to third and second, respectively.
One out later, Friedl hit a two-run single. He took second on a disengagement violation, stole third while Spencer Steer walked and scored on France’s groundout.
Cincinnati left two more runners on in the sixth inning. Espinal hit a single and India drew a one-out walk while facing Ryan Fernandez, but John King took over on the mound and retired the next two batters.
A St. Louis rally came up short in the ninth, as Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado hit singles and Lars Nootbaar walked with no outs before Pagan struck out the next three batters to end the game.