St. Louis Cardinals at Cincinnati Reds

Masyn Winn’s first-career game with three extra-base hits was inspired by a pregame mechanical tweak. “We worked on leaving the bat on the shoulder rather than raising it up early,” Winn said. “It just keeps my hands more quiet. I felt very comfortable tonight.” Winn’s eruption at the plate paced the Cardinals lineup in a 3-0 win over the Reds on Tuesday at Great American Ball Park, and it all stemmed from a concept that Cards catcher Pedro Pagés had mentioned to Winn during the prior day’s doubleheader. Winn filed it away, and after implementing it pregame Tuesday, tried it out in the game -- to immediate dividends. “We went back and looked at a lot of my, you know, when I was going good,” Winn explained. “And my bat almost never moved. It was on my shoulder the whole time. So, I tried it today, and it worked out pretty well.” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol deadpanned his initial response when the subject of his shortstop was raised postgame. “He’s very good at baseball,” Marmol said. “Phenomenal day.” But he wasn’t speaking only to Winn’s bat. Once again, his golden leather spoke for itself. “It seems like this guy makes a play that the rest of the league can’t make every night,” Marmol added. “It’s a heckuva lot of fun watching.” Winn scored twice in the win, also crossing the plate on an RBI double by José Fermín in the seventh. That run, and the Joshua Báez sacrifice fly in the eighth, were bonus tallies, as the Cardinals’ sterling night on the mound made the insurance unnecessary.