The Cincinnati Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals 9-1 on Thursday to secure the series split. The Reds were led on offense by home runs from Jose Trevino and Spencer Steer. Noelvi Marte, Santiago Espinal, and Steer all had multi-hit games.

A day after playing a doubleheader (which the Reds were swept in) due to a Tuesday rainout, the Reds lost Thursday starter Andrew Abbott after just four innings to a rain delay but still prevailed on the back of a strong hitting performance and more effective pitching out of the bullpen.

A 97-minute delay abbreviated Matthew Liberatore's start and pushed the Cardinals into bullpen choices to preserve arms, not chase, in a 9-1 loss to Cincinnati.

"We decided to put our heads together and let (Díaz) try to figure out − get right in Triple-A," Francona said.

The Cincinnati Reds demoted struggling closer Alexis Diaz to the Triple-A Louisville Bats, they announced Thursday.

The Cincinnati Reds have optioned struggling closer Alexis Diaz to Triple-A hoping he can regain his All-Star form