CINCINNATI — — Nick Martinez pitched six sparkling innings, and the Cincinnati Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals 3-1 on Monday night for their fifth straight win.
Martinez (1-3) allowed one run and five hits in the opener of the four game series.
Emilio Pagán finished the five-hitter for his eighth save.
Jose Trevino homered for Cincinnati, and Noelvi Marte drove in the go-ahead run with his first career triple.
Reds star Elly De La Cruz doubled in the first to extend his hitting streak to a career-high 12 games, and Gavin Lux collected three hits, including two doubles, to run his hitting streak to a career-best 12.
St. Louis right-hander Andre Pallante (2-2) allowed three runs and six hits in six innings.
Miles Mikolas (0-2, 5.70 ERA) starts Tuesday for the Cardinals. Brady Singer (4-0, 3.62 ERA) goes for the Reds, 4:45 with the pregame and the first pitch at 5:40 on KIRX.