Laynce Nix's single in the sixth inning scored Jerry Hairston Jr. to give the Reds a 3-2 lead.

On his 31st birthday and in front of a sellout crowd of 40,651, Aaron Harang kept the Cardinals at bay guaranteeing the Reds their first series win at home this season. Harang looked sharp on the mound, giving up just three runs (two earned) in seven innings while striking out seven. His stat line looked almost identical to his last start on May 4th against the Marlins, less two walks and two strikeouts. With the solid outing, Harang lowered his ERA to 2.93 for the year.

Jay Bruce put the Reds up 2-0 in the first with a homerun, his second first-inning bomb in the last three games. With the homer, Bruce extended his current hitting streak to 10 games as he continues his hot hitting in May (more on that later this week). The Cards tied the game on Ryan Ludwick’s two-run shot in the top of the third when Harang left a breaking ball up in the zone, one of the few mistakes he made all night.

The Reds reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the sixth, adding five runs on six hits to blow the game open. The rally was highlighted by a bases loaded single by Harang, his first hit of the season, to bring in Laynce Nix and Adam Rosales.  The next batter, Willy Taveras, singled to center to score Ryan Hanigan giving the Reds a 7-2 lead.

Our friend Stormy came in to pitch a scoreless eighth, while Nick Masset’s zero in the ninth closed the door for an 8-3 victory.

With the offense starting to click, and continued mastery on the mound, the Reds are going to be a tough team to beat. Against the N.L. Central, the Reds improved their record to 14-8, which is a vast improvement from last year’s 7-13 record in their division through 20 games. Edinson Volquez takes the mound today to try for the sweep of the first-place Cards.