MLB Game Preview - Cincinnati at St. Louis

Sun Apr 28, 2019 2:15 PM EDT

The Cincinnati Reds rode five homers to a lopsided victory in their series opener with the St. Louis Cardinals before being held in the park the following day.

The visiting Reds look to flex their muscles once again on Sunday afternoon when they conclude their three-game series against right-hander Jack Flaherty (2-1, 5.25 ERA), who has surrendered six homers in his last three starts.

Flaherty, however, has won two of those three outings, including his last one despite being taken deep three times for the lone hits he allowed over six innings in St. Louis' 13-5 victory versus Milwaukee on Monday.

"Balls are really flying," the 23-year-old Flaherty said. "Guys are going to hit home runs, and you're going to give up home runs. Mistakes are going to be made."

Flaherty has been taken deep by Eugenio Suarez, Jesse Winker and Derek Dietrich in four career starts against Cincinnati. Yasiel Puig also homered off the hurler while he played with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The 23-year-old Flaherty owns an 0-2 mark with a 4.41 ERA in four career starts against the Reds while allowing Jose Peraza to go 4-for-8 against him.

Suarez, Winker and Puig all went deep in Cincinnati's 12-1 shellacking of St. Louis on Friday night.

Marcell Ozuna belted the lone homer in the Cardinals' 6-3 win on Saturday, a three-run shot in the third inning to boost his team-leading total to 10. The 28-year-old added a two-run double in the fifth to finish with five RBIs.

"He's a really, really good player with a lot of different special skill sets, and now -- thankfully for him and us -- he's in a place that he can use his skills," Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said of Ozuna.

Ozuna's offensive explosion gave the Cardinals their sixth win in seven outings overall and 11 victories in their last 13 at Busch Stadium.

"We really love playing at home. We got family here and all the friends that love us," Ozuna said.

Cincinnati right-hander Sonny Gray (0-3, 3.65) will be tasked with keeping Ozuna under wraps when he gets the nod in the series finale. Gray is looking for his first win since signing a four-year, $38 million contract with the Reds in the offseason.

The 29-year-old settled for a no-decision against Atlanta on Tuesday after allowing four runs on six hits in 5 1/3 innings.

Gray will make his first career start versus St. Louis, although Dexter Fowler (3-for-7) and Ozuna (2-for-6) have enjoyed success in small sample sizes. Paul Goldschmidt, however, is 0-for-3 with two strikeouts against Gray.

Speaking of Goldschmidt, the prize offseason acquisition carries a 13-game hitting streak into Sunday while Yadier Molina has hits in 14 consecutive contests.

As for Cincinnati, Jose Iglesias has started to get hot at the plate by going 9-for-23 with three RBIs in his last six games. Iglesias, however, prides himself on defense.

"People forget about defense, and how important it is in the game to put your team in the best position as possible to win games," the 29-year-old Iglesias said.

--Field Level Media