CINCINNATI -- A team dealing with roster mayhem as much as opponents lately, the last thing the Reds needed Saturday was more trouble. 

But trouble found them anyway as a pregame mishap during warmups left Reds third baseman Noelvi Marte unable to play in Saturday's 4-3 loss to the Cardinals at Great American Ball Park. Marte was not ready when teammate Elly De La Cruz threw a ball to him, and it struck him in the face before he fell to the ground. 

“I didn’t really see much. I was kind of locked in," said Reds rookie starter Carson Spiers, who was walking in from the bullpen when the accident happened. "I actually heard the ball hit Marte in the mouth, or the nose or wherever it got him. I didn’t really see Elly throw it. I was looking down and then I just heard the noise of the ball hit his face."

De La Cruz immediately put his arms over his head in dismay after the accident. Coaches and an athletic trainer tended to Marte, who bled from his nose before he left the field for treatment. He was diagnosed with a facial contusion and is listed as day to day.

“That was just scary," Reds manager David Bell said. "He’s going to be fine. We don’t know how quickly he’ll be back in the lineup. He got tested out as a precaution. There’s a chance he’s back in there pretty soon. It’s all about how he responds to it. It was a pretty nasty blow.”

• Games remaining: vs. STL (1), at DET (3), at NYM (3), vs. MIN (3), vs. PIT (3), at CLE (2), at STL (3)
• Standings update: With their third straight loss, the Reds (73-71) dropped to 2 1/2 games behind the D-backs (75-68) for the third National League Wild Card spot. Cincinnati, which is a game behind the Marlins (73-69) as well, holds the tiebreaker over Arizona but must resort to intradivision records to break a potential tie against Miami.

The start of the game was delayed five minutes as the Reds made a lineup change. Original second baseman Spencer Steer was shifted to third base, while Alejo Lopez -- who was summoned as a substitute player from Triple-A Louisville earlier in the day -- took Marte's spot in the lineup and played second base.

Marte left the ballpark and was not available after the game. De La Cruz declined to comment through a team spokesperson.

After being forced to patchwork their roster over the past couple of weeks, it all might be catching up to the Reds. The team has made more than 30 transactions in September alone, including six players testing positive for COVID-19. Over Cincinnati's past eight games, seven rookies have served as starting pitchers with one other game -- Monday vs. the Mariners -- being a bullpen day.

Spiers, who had his contract selected from Double-A Chattanooga on Sept. 1, made his second big league start on Saturday. He gave up four runs on five hits and three walks over three-plus innings.

The Reds trailed, 1-0, when they rallied for three runs in the second inning. Tyler Stephenson’s one-out RBI double to center field scored Nick Senzel from first base. Lopez followed with an RBI double to right field and scored on Harrison Bader's soft RBI single into right field.

But Spiers lost the lead in the third inning when Willson Contreras slugged a two-out, two-run home run to center field. Lars Nootbaar drove in the go-ahead run in the fourth inning against reliever Sam Moll.

Frustration showed as Bell was ejected by home-plate umpire Brennan Miller in the fourth inning for arguing a called strike to Tyler Stephenson. Next was Lopez, who took a called third strike and was also ejected by Miller for angrily disagreeing.

"Not from the very beginning did we ever ask for it to be easy, ever," Bell said. "We have a long, long way to go. And we have an opportunity in front of us to -- it’s still all about how we approach it, how we play, how we believe what’s going to happen. It’s all about that. We’re not handed anything. We have to play well."

In the ninth inning with Christian Encarnacion-Strand representing the tying run, he was out at second base on a double play after a replay challenge because Encarnacion-Strand slid into second baseman Tommy Edman.

"I know that was a big call, a big play in the end. I’d rather just talk about the game," Bell said. "I think it’s probably just best -- once it goes to replay, there’s nothing that can be done."