Cueto beats Cardinals again, Nix homers twice in Reds’ 9-3 win

Cueto, Nix pace Reds’ 9-3 win over Cardinals

ST. LOUIS — Johnny Cueto beat the St. Louis Cardinals for the second time in less than a month and Laynce Nix homered twice with four RBIs in the Cincinnati Reds’ 9-3 victory on Wednesday night.

Cardinals starter Kyle Lohse (4-4) was taken out with none out in the third inning complaining of tightness in his right forearm, an injury from getting hit by a pitch that had forced him to skip a turn in the rotation.

Cueto (5-3) allowed one run on 6 1-3 innings, ending a string of eight straight starts with seven or more innings that included a seven-inning stint in which he gave up one run in a 6-4 victory over St. Louis on May 8 in Cincinnati. Despite going deep into every game he had been 0-2 in his previous three starts.

Nix homered in the second for the Reds’ first run and added a three-run shot, his sixth of the season, off Chris Perez in the eighth for a 7-1 cushion. He also made an outstanding leaping catch to rob Ryan Ludwick of extra bases and an RBI in the sixth.

Brandon Phillips was 3-for-5 with his 10th homer in the ninth, an RBI single and two steals.

Cueto ended the Reds’ string of allowing a first-inning run in six straight games with the help of a leaping catch by third baseman Jerry Hairston Jr. to rob leadoff hitter Skip Schumaker. Before pinch hitter Colby Rasmus and Ryan hit back-to-back doubles with one out in the seventh, the Cardinals had only two runners in scoring position.

Cueto’s leadoff bunt single, his third bunt hit of the year and fourth hit overall, ignited a two-run third with both runs unearned due to third baseman Joe Thurston’s fielding error.

Blaine Boyer worked allowed one earned run in five innings, the longest by a Cardinal reliever since Kip Wells also went five innings July 3, 2007 against Arizona.