St. Louis 6, Cincinnati 1

Colby Rasmus belted a grand slam and Adam Wainwright silenced the Cincinnati offense as the St. Louis Cardinals posted a 6-1 victory over the Reds on Wednesday to complete a three-game sweep of their NL Central Division showdown.
 
Cincinnati second baseman Brandon Phillips started things on Monday by stating he hated the Cardinals and calling them complainers. Then Phillips and Yadier Molina started a bench-clearing brawl in Tuesday's game in the first inning.
 
About the only thing that Phillips and the Reds should hate now is second place after being handled once again by the Cardinals.
 
Rasmus sent his blast to deep center in the fifth inning to give the Cardinals a 4-0 lead. Molina and Skip Schumaker added RBI singles in the seventh to make it 6-0 and it was more than enough with Wainwright on the mound.
 
Wainwright (17-6) allowed two hits with four strikeouts in seven innings, lowering his ERA this season to 1.99.
 
Bronson Arroyo (12-7) took the loss, yielding four runs and six hits with three walks and two strikeouts in five innings.
 
Joey Votto had an RBI single in the eighth to help the Reds avoid being shutout.

• Cincinnati will play their next game at home against Florida. The Reds have a W/L % of .562 after a win and .560 after a loss.
• St. Louis will play their next game at home against Chi. Cubs. The Cardinals have a W/L % of .508 after a win and .633 after a loss.