CINCINNATI (AP) — Nick Castellanos came out swinging with his bat a day after being ejected for inciting a bench-clearing melee, hitting a three-run homer and triple to lead the Cincinnati Reds to a 12-1 rout over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday.
Tyler Naquin also a three-run shot for the Reds, who won two in a row to take the opening series in matchup of NL Central teams that earned wild-card spots last season.
Castellanos kept up his big series with a triple in the fourth inning, scoring on a single by Votto. Then with two on and two outs in the fifth, he hit a 91 mph fastball from Carlos Martinez (0-1) into the Reds bullpen in left-center field for a 4-1 lead.
Castellanos went 6 for 11 in the series, scoring six runs and driving in five. He homered twice, tripled and doubled. Carlos Martinez took the loss for St. Louis, giving up four runs on four hits in five innings.
The Cardinals send RHP Daniel Ponce de Leon against Marlins LHP Trevor Rogers in the first of a three-game set in Miami Monday, 4:45 with the pregame and the first pitch at 5:40 on KIRX.