CINCINNATI – Almost a year ago last season, the Reds were a sub-.500 club in need of a big turnaround to save their season. Beginning on June 9, they started what became a robust 12-game winning streak that not only saved Cincinnati's season, but also put them in playoff contention.

By comparison, the Reds appear to be on a comparatively modest, but legitimate roll while both hitting and pitching well. A 3-1 victory over the Cardinals in Monday's series opener at Great American Ball Park gave the club a season-high four-game win streak, pushing its record to 24-30.

"I felt like by no means that we were out of this," Reds starting pitcher Nick Lodolo said. "It was definitely a tough month, but there’s really nothing that changed for the team in the last four games. We’re kind of sticking to it and playing good ball.”

Lodolo, who was out since May 12 with a left groin strain, returned from the injured list in time to help keep momentum going. He bounced back with one earned run and five hits allowed over 5 1/3 innings and 81 pitches.

While facing 21 batters, Lodolo threw 15 first-pitch strikes. His only blemish was giving up Paul Goldschmidt's first-pitch home run to left field with two outs in the top of the first inning.

"First inning didn’t start off great, but I put my head down and kept going and at the end of the day, I looked up and we won," said Lodolo, who did not walk a batter and struck out three.

Lodolo, who carried a 1.88 ERA through his first four starts, had given up eight runs over 11 innings in the two starts ahead of his IL stint. He was fortunate to just miss the minimum amount of time -- 15 days.

“I definitely was in a little bit of a rhythm there," Lodolo said of his outing. "I was fighting myself a little bit mechanically, I feel like, for a lot of it. But I was able to make pitches when I needed to for the most part. I felt like I jumped ahead a lot, which helped me stay in the game.”

What made this win a little more special for Cincinnati was its pitching shut down a hot Cardinals club that entered with wins in 10 of 12 games and a five-game win streak. During that stretch, they scored 5.67 runs per game.

St. Louis is also the first National League Central rival the Reds have played since they faced the Brewers April 8-10.

The Reds bullpen backed up Lodolo by retiring all 11 batters faced with nine strikeouts. Reliever Fernando Cruz struck out all five batters he faced over 1 2/3 innings, Sam Moll struck out two batters in the eighth and with Alexis Díaz unavailable, Lucas Sims struck out two in the ninth inning for his first save of 2024.

In some ways, Cruz epitomized the Reds in May. Over an eight-game stretch from May 1-17 -- all Reds losses -- he was 0-4 with a 10.57 ERA. In his last five appearances, he's worked 5 1/3 scoreless innings with one hit.

“Now we’re enjoying the streak. We’re playing really good baseball," Cruz said. "I was really close to being like a rocket going off. As the team, we were in the same situation I was. We were really close to winning games. Now I’m really good. I think I’m going off and the team is going off. It’s happening. It’s time for us to enjoy and have fun.”

In the bottom of the first with two outs, Jeimer Candelario picked up his starter by pulling a 1-0 pitch to right field for a game-tying solo homer against Lance Lynn.

Shoddy defense from the Cardinals helped the Reds take a two-run lead in the second inning. Third baseman Nolan Arenado flubbed Nick Martini's grounder for an error.

After a Jonathan India hit, Will Benson hit a grounder to the left side. As Martini was on the move between second and third base, the ball got by Arenado for an RBI single. Jacob Hurtubise followed with a grounder to first base that took a hop through Goldschmidt's glove for a one-out error that scored India.

"This is the time of year you want to start playing your best baseball," Hurtubise said. "Sometimes teams can start out slow and it takes a little bit of time. This team has gone through some ups and downs. But since I’ve gotten here [May 13], guys have been consistently putting in the work, putting in good at-bats. And now we’re seeing some of that work pay off.”