Cardinals 10, Reds 9: A Dropped Fly, Six Runs, and a Survived Ninth

Two outs from ending it, then the ball hit the grass

August 20, 2026 - Cincinnati - The Cincinnati Reds led 5-4 with two outs in the ninth. JJ Wetherholt lifted a fly to center. Dane Myers had the out. He did not catch it.

Masyn Winn and José Fermín scored. Wetherholt reached. The inning that should have ended became a six-run flood. The St. Louis Cardinals left Great American Ball Park with a 10-9 win and a fifth straight series victory.

That is not a tidy baseball story. It is the kind that sticks to both clubhouses.

Walker built the early lead. McLain stole it back.

Jordan Walker grounded in a first-inning run, then hit a three-run homer in the third, his 26th of the year and his second in two games. 4-0 St. Louis. For a few innings, Michael McGreevy made it look sustainable.

The sixth flipped the game. McGreevy loaded the bases with one out. Ryne Stanek came on. JJ Bleday singled in a run. Matt McLain then hit a grand slam. Five Cincinnati runs. 5-4 Reds. Three of those runs were charged to McGreevy after 5 1/3.

Neither team scored again until the ninth. Peter Strzelecki (1-1) threw two scoreless, hitless innings with a walk and a strikeout. He earned the win without throwing a pitch in the chaos that decided it.

Six runs up. Four runs back. One out left.

After Myers' error, Alec Burleson singled home Wetherholt. Joshua Báez walked with the bases loaded. Fermín singled home two more. 10-5 Cardinals, and Fermín had two hits in the same inning.

Cincinnati did not quit. Eugenio Suárez singled home a run. Sal Stewart singled home two and briefly took the major league RBI lead. Tyler Stephenson walked with the bases loaded. 10-9. Bases still full. Riley O'Brien (33rd save) got the last out with the season's loudest ballpark holding its breath.

Walker finished with four RBI. McLain's slam still scored 11 AthX Engine hitting fantasy points in a loss. Both numbers can be true on the same night.

AthX Engine saw the mess and still ranked St. Louis

AthX Engine put the Cardinals at 14 team fantasy points, tied with the Yankees for second on the slate. Walker scored 10 hitting fantasy points. McLain outscored him at 11 from the losing side. Fantasy points do not care who dropped the fly. They add the production.

What's next

St. Louis opens at Philadelphia. Cincinnati stays in the same painful division race it entered the afternoon leading for eight and a half innings. A dropped final out does not end a season. It does define a Thursday.

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*Sources: ESPN box score, AP via CBS, MLB schedule, AthX Engine scoring. Information only; not financial advice.*