Major League Baseball

Cardinals can't contain Hamilton's speed in loss at Cincinnati

Published Apr. 10, 2015 11:04 p.m. ET

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The Cardinals were reminded of the perils of walking one of the fastest players in baseball Friday night.

Cincinnati center fielder Billy Hamilton may be an inconsistent hitter, but he's as dangerous as anyone when he gets on base. The Reds' leadoff man walked on four pitches twice and took advantage, scoring the first and last runs to beat St. Louis 5-4.

It's nothing new for Hamilton, who tied for second in the National League with 56 stolen bases a year ago and already has seven on seven attempts this season. He didn't even need to beat Yadier Molina's outstanding arm in the first inning, thanks to a bizarre balk by Cardinals starter John Lackey.

Molina made a near-perfect throw in the eighth and it still wasn't good enough to keep Hamilton from taking second. He advanced to third on a wild pitch and beat out a strong throw by right fielder Jason Heyward on a shallow sacrifice fly from Todd Frazier.

"He's dynamite," Frazier told Jim Hayes of FOX Sports Midwest after the game. "He's electric and he's going to help me out and get me a couple more RBIs this year."

Relatively minor mistakes have cost St. Louis the past two games, including a hit batter and an errant pickoff throw in a 2-0 loss at Chicago. The Cardinals have failed to create many breaks of their own on the basepaths, with no stolen bases since they went 4 for 5 in a 3-0 win on Opening Night.

Manager Mike Matheny could have much bigger problems, but that doesn't make the losses any less frustrating.

3 UP

• Grichuk's great debut. The Cardinals' fourth outfielder hit their first home run of the season, which is not as surprising as it sounds, considering Randal Grichuk led the team with four home runs in spring training.

In his first at-bat of the season, he crushed the second pitch he saw 431 feet for a go-ahead two-run home run.

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"He stayed sharp even though (he went) almost a week without an at-bat," Matheny said in his postgame press conference on FOX Sports Midwest. "It's nice to see."

Grichuk played center field in place of starter Jon Jay and made some impressive defensive plays, including a running catch near the wall to rob Jay Bruce of extra bases. The Cardinals expect to be able to use Grichuk at any spot in the outfield this season, and he certainly looked comfortable at Great American Ballpark.

• Unhittable bullpen. Even though Jordan Walden's costly walk led to a run, the St. Louis bullpen's remarkable start reached historic proportions.

Six different Cardinals relievers have combined to throw seven no-hit innings to start the season, marking the first time the bullpen hasn't given up a hit in the first three full games since 1963, when Ernie Broglio, Ray Washburn and Curt Simmons all threw complete-game shutouts. St. Louis also didn't use its bullpen until the fourth game in 1979, but the third game of the opening series at Philadelphia didn't officially count, since it was tied after five innings and would be replayed as part of a doubleheader on June 29.

• Peralta comes through. Cardinals shortstop Jhonny Peralta didn't miss another opportunity to drive in some baserunners.

St. Louis' No. 5 hitter smashed a two-out double down the left-field line to bring home leadoff man Matt Carpenter for the game's first run. Peralta hit just .239 with runners in scoring position last season and couldn't produce in his first four chances of 2015.

3 DOWN

• Long balls doom Lackey. Two pitches turned into the only four runs Lackey gave up in an otherwise solid first start.

Joey Votto took the Cardinals' right-hander deep twice, both times on flyballs that wouldn't have had a chance to even reach the wall in the cold, windy conditions at Wrigley Field earlier this week. But on a relatively warm, humid night in Cincinnati, Votto did just enough on a tough pitch in the first inning, then took advantage of a mistake in the third.

• Familiar face stymies the offense. An old friend settled in and eventually quieted a St. Louis offense that's still looking to hit its stride.

Jason Marquis struck out seven and didn't give up a hit in the last four innings of his first MLB start since July 19, 2013, when he suffered an injury that would require Tommy John surgery. The 36-year-old righty has played for nine teams, including the Cardinals from 2004-06.

• Molina, Adams remain hitless. Hitting slumps can happen to anyone at any time, but they're never more obvious than at the start of the season when batting averages are most volatile.

Molina and Cardinals first baseman Matt Adams will get their first hits of the season soon enough. Until then, it's best for everyone to just ignore that ugly .000 so often shown next to their names.

You can follow Luke Thompson on Twitter at @FS_LukeT or email him at lukegthompson87@gmail.com.