ST. LOUIS -- Closers need nerves of steel. Raisel Iglesias is showing he has what it takes.Adam Duvalls two-run single was all Cincinnati needed as the Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals 2-1 on Wednesday night.The Reds third win in their last four games dealt a blow to the Cardinals playoff hopes. St. Louis remained one game behind San Francisco for the NLs second wild card, with the New York Mets 1 1/2 games ahead of the Giants.Iglesias earned his fifth save in six opportunities with two innings of relief, pitching in and out of jams in both.A walk to his first batter, a hit batter and a wild pitch in the eighth had Iglesias pitching out of a second and third with one out situation. The right-hander wriggled out with a strikeout and a ground out.First inning everything sped up for me, Iglesias said through an interpreter. After that I picked my tempo up and everything was fine after that.Cardinals pinch-hitter Kolten Wong led off the ninth with a triple. But Iglesias got a shallow fly sandwiched between two ground outs to end the game.After that I started to locate my pitches and it felt like a playoff game, Iglesias said. Im going to be aggressive as I can be and go after the hitters.Reds starter Anthony DeSclafani (9-5) allowed one runner in each of the first four innings, but only once during that span did the Cardinals have anyone in scoring position. He stranded five runners, including two in the sixth, his last inning. He allowed six hits and one run.He pitched his heart out for us, Reds manager Bryan Price said. What a boost. You think about our team and our turnaround in the second half and it really lines up with (DeSclafani) coming back into our rotation and getting Iglesias and (Michael) Lorenzen back healthy.It was the fifth quality start out of six in DeSclafanis career against the Cardinals. He improved to 4-1 with a 2.13 ERA against St. Louis.I face them more often, DeSclafani said. I feel I learn more about them and they learn more about me so its a constant adjustment.Duvall drove in his 101st and 102nd runs with his third-inning single. He has seven RBI in the series.They werent going down easy thats for sure with Wong hitting that triple, Duvall said. But Iggy bared down and showed that he had some nasty stuff and was able to come out of it.Cardinals starter Mike Leake (9-12) allowed five hits and two runs in five innings, striking out six.Leake was lifted for pinch-hitter Matt Adams in the fifth and he grounded into a double play that scored Aledmys Diaz for the Cardinals lone run.Cardinals manager Mike Matheny brought closer Seung Hwan Oh in with one out in the eighth inning. Oh struck out both batters to get the Cardinals out of a jam after Duvall tripled to lead off the inning.Oh left the game with two outs in the ninth after being hit by a line drive from Jose Peraza.Its baseball, youre going to have times when you just dont get it done, Matheny said. Tonight was one of those times guys make good pitches in big situations and we couldnt finish it off.SPECIAL GUESTSThe St. Louis Blues attended the game and defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk threw out the first pitch. The Cardinals wore hybrid Blues/Cardinals jerseys during warmups.ROSTER MOVESThe Reds claimed IF/OF Patrick Kivlehan off waivers from the San Diego Padres and placed SS Zack Cozart on the 60-day DL list. This is the fourth organization Kivlehan has been a part of this season.TRAINERS ROOMReds: 2B Brandon Phillips (left hand) and OF Scott Schebler (left hamstring) were scratched from the lineup.Cardinals: OF Matt Holliday (thumb) is not on a live batting practice schedule.UP NEXTReds: RHP Dan Straily (14-8, 3.74 ERA) has made 11 starts in which he allowed three hits or fewer. He is 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA in three career appearances against St. Louis.Cardinals: RHP Alex Reyes (4-1, 1.58 ERA) has earned a win in his last three appearances. 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How great will be revealed in the next couple of days at the board of governors meeting in Pebble Beach, Calif.CHICAGO -- The Chicago Cubs, who face the Miami Marlins Tuesday, not only bolstered their relief corps with a Monday trade with the Los Angeles Angels, they added a completely different look.The Cubs added right-hander Joe Smith, who has a sidearm delivery that contrasts sharply with the Cubs mostly hard-throwing relievers.Hes a sidearm, ground ball guy. We dont have that look or that ability right now in our bullpen,said Jed Hoyer, the Cubs general manager. Its great to have hard-throwing guys with great breaking balls, but its nice to add a different look. Hes also a guy that Joe (manager Joe Maddon) can use to get a big double play in the right spot.The deal for the 32-year-old reliever came as the Cubs wrapped up a busy pre-deadline stretch that also saw arrivals of left-handed relievers Aroldis Chapman and Mike Montgomery.You definitely assess your bullpen over the first half of the season and if there are areas you want to improve, you look to do that, Hoyer said. When we looked at this team that was an area that we thought we could make some changes -- adding two left-handers and adding a guy like Smith, who can be a right-handed specialist. We felt that would improve the mix of our bullpen.The Smith deal reportedly closed just before Mondays 3 p.m. Central time trading deadline. The Cubs gave up Class-A Eugene right-handed pitcher Jesus Castillo, 2/3 with a 3.27 ERA in seven minor league starts.Smith is a veteran of three teams and 10 big league seasons. He is 1-4 with a 3.82 ERA , 25 strikeouts and four saves in 38 appearances this season. Smith has a career 40-27 record with 2.94 ERA and 461 strikeouts in 623 games.He has reached 70 relief outings in each of the last five seasons, showing versatility by both closing and working set-up over the last three years.On July 25, Chicago acquired Chapman -- the left-handed closer recently clocked with a 105-miles per hour fastball -- from the New York Yankees.Five days earlier they landed Montgomery, 277, in a four-player trade with the Seattle Mariners for first base prospect Dan Vogelbach and pitcher Paul Blackburn while receiving minor-league pitcher Jordan Pries.ddddddddddddoyer said it wasnt just the Cubs looking at bullpen help this time of year.I dont want to say that almost all contenders improve their bullpen, Hoyer said, but Ill bet if you look around the league the majority of teams in contention did something to address their bullpen.The Miami Marlins made one trade prior to the deadline as they shed injured right-hander Colin Rea.But the NL East contenders -- currently 4 1/2 games in back of first-place Washington -- otherwise stood pat as the trading deadline passed and a final eight-week chase commenced.They sent Rea back to the San Diego Padres in exchange for minor league pitcher Luis Castillo. Miami had acquired Rea and pitcher Andrew Cashner in a seven-player deal but reportedly determined Rea was already hurting when he arrived.Most attention this week around the Marlins is on outfielder Ichiro Suzuki, who is just two hits away from becoming the 30th major-league hitter to reach 3,000 career hits.He would be the third to reach 3,000 against Chicago, following Stan Musial (May 13, 1958 at Wrigley Field) and Lou Brock (Aug. 13, 1979 at St. Louis).The Mariners send one of the leagues top strikeout artists against the Cubs in Tuesdays middle game. Right-hander Jose Fernandez (12-5, 2.79 ERA) has 184 strikeouts for the season, good for second in the league.Tuesdays start will be the second of his career against Chicago.The Cubs will counter with right-hander Jason Hammel (10-5, 3.23 ERA) in his 21st start of the season. He is 2-5 with a 3.97 ERA in 11 games (nine starts) against Miami. He has allowed three or fewer runs in 17 starts this year and is 3-0 with a 2.00 ERA in three starts since the All-Star break. ' ' '
