Lars Nootbaar Sparks Cardinals in 10-3 Win Over Reds
lars nootbaar returned to the St. Louis Cardinals lineup on June 5, 2026, and the offense quickly followed his lead in a 10-3 win over the Cincinnati Reds. St. Louis erased a 3-0 deficit, tied the game at 3-3, then kept adding runs until the score no longer reflected how fast the game had turned.
Nootbaar reached base in the bottom of the first when he beat out a ball to shortstop and advanced to second on an errant throw. In the fifth, he doubled to center on a 99 mph four-seam fastball, drove in Victor Scott II from first, and later scored on Ivan Herrera’s single to right field. That stretch pushed the Cardinals from a tie into a lead they never gave back.
Busch Stadium Turnaround
The Reds had the first punch, scoring three runs in the top of the first to take a 3-0 lead. St. Louis answered in the bottom of the third when Alec Burleson homered to pull the Cardinals level at 3-3, and the game tightened around one swing instead of drifting away.
Jordan Walker delivered the first lead for St. Louis in the bottom of the fifth with a double that made it 4-3. Nootbaar’s double came in that same frame, and it extended the inning into a burst that opened enough space for the Cardinals to keep scoring and build to 10-3.
Nootbaar's Fifth-Inning Hit
The return mattered because Nootbaar did more than simply rejoin the lineup. He moved traffic on the bases in the first inning, then supplied the hit that turned a tied game into a Cardinals advantage after the Reds had already forced St. Louis into an early chase.
Viva El Birdos summed up the reaction with a simple “NOOT!” after the RBI double, but the box score carried the point better than the shout. Nootbaar finished with a double, an RBI, and a run scored in his first game back, while the Cardinals used his inning to break open a game that had started 3-0 against them.
Cardinals' 10-3 Finish
St. Louis did not need a long rally to settle this one. The Cardinals scored their first six runs before pulling away further later in the game, and the margin kept growing after they took the lead in the fifth.
Kyle Leahy worked four innings for St. Louis, allowing five hits, three earned runs, one strikeout and two walks. That kept the Reds from extending their early edge, and it left the Cardinals with enough breathing room to turn Nootbaar’s return into a clean home win at Busch Stadium.
