Steer homers twice and drives in 5 runs as Reds beat Cardinals 6-1 behind Abbott

CINCINNATI (AP) — Spencer Steer homered in consecutive at-bats and drove in five runs, and Elly De La Cruz hit his team-leading 21st homer as the Cincinnati Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-1 on Monday night.

Andrew Abbott (10-9) allowed one run and five hits in 6 2/3 innings to snap his three-game losing streak. The left-hander was tagged for 12 earned runs over his previous 13 1/3 innings.

Cardinals starter Sonny Gray (11-7) struck out nine in five innings, but is winless in three career starts against his former club. He gave up six runs and five hits, including three homers.

Abbott escaped bases-loaded jams in the second and third. He finished with six strikeouts and retired 11 straight batters during one stretch.

Steer and De La Cruz homered on successive pitches from Gray to put Cincinnati ahead 3-1 in the third. It was the fifth time this season the Reds hit back-to-back homers.

Steer, who batted leadoff for the third time this year and fifth time in his career, struck again in the fifth with a three-run shot to make it 6-1.

It was Steer's first career multi-homer game. He has 18 home runs this season.

Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol was ejected by plate umpire Stu Scheurwater in the fifth after arguing a called ball. It was Marmol's fourth ejection this season and the 13th of his career.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Cardinals: DH/INF Matt Carpenter (lower back strain) was placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to Aug. 9, and OF Jordan Walker was recalled from Triple-A Memphis. ... RHP Lance Lynn (right knee inflammation) threw a bullpen.

Reds: RHP Graham Ashcraft (right elbow strain) will begin a six-week throwing program in about 10 days. ... INF Matt McLain (left shoulder surgery), who had a setback with a stress reaction in his rib cage, is expected to begin hitting in a couple of days.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: RHP Erick Fedde (8-5, 3.28 ERA) pitches Tuesday night, his second start for St. Louis since being acquired from the Chicago White Sox in a trade.

Reds: RHP Hunter Greene (8-4, 2.90) had a 24-inning scoreless streak snapped in his last start.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

Cincinnati Reds' Spencer Steer fields a ground ball and throws to first base for an out against St. Louis Cardinals' Willson Contreras during the fifth inning of a baseball game Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Kareem Elgazzar)

Cincinnati Reds' Elly De La Cruz, right, throws first base to turn a double play as St. Louis Cardinals' Jordan Walker, left, slides into second base during the second inning of a baseball game Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Kareem Elgazzar)

Cincinnati Reds' Elly De La Cruz, left, and Will Benson, right, laugh after they tried to catch the same fly ball during the first inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Kareem Elgazzar)

St. Louis Cardinals' Sonny Gray delivers a pitch during the first inning of a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds, Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Kareem Elgazzar)

From left to right, Cincinnati Reds' Ty France, Spencer Steer, Noelvi Marte and Elly De La Cruz celebrate at the conclusion of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Kareem Elgazzar)

Cincinnati Reds' Andrew Abbott delivers a pitch during the first inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Kareem Elgazzar)

Cincinnati Reds' Spencer Steer follows through on a three-run home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Kareem Elgazzar)

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Donald Trump's fourth scheduled stop in eight days in Wisconsin is a sign of his increased attention as Republicans fret about the former president's ability to match the Democrats' enthusiasm and turnout machine.

“In the political chatter class, they’re worried," said Brandon Scholz, a retired Republican strategist and longtime political observer in Wisconsin who voted for Trump in 2020 but said he is not voting for Trump or Democratic nominee Kamala Harris this year. “I think Republicans are right to be concerned.”

Trump's latest rally was planned for 2 p.m. Central time Sunday in Juneau in Dodge County, which he won in 2020 with 65% of the vote. Jack Yuds, chairman of the county Republican Party, said support for Trump is stronger in his part of the state than it was in 2016 or 2020. “I can’t keep signs in,” Yuds said. “They want everything he’s got. If it says Trump on it, you can sell it.”

Wisconsin is perennially tight in presidential elections but has gone for the Republicans just once in the past 40 years, when Trump won the state in 2016. A win in November could make it impossible for Harris to take the White House.

Trump won in 2016 over Democrat Hillary Clinton by fewer than 23,000 votes and lost to Democrat Joe Biden in 2020 by just under 21,000 votes.

On Tuesday, Trump made his first-ever visit to Dane County, home to the liberal capital city of Madison, in an effort to turn out the Republican vote even in the state's Democratic strongholds. Dane is Wisconsin’s second most-populous and fastest-growing county; Biden received more than 75% of the vote four years ago.

“To win statewide you’ve got to have a 72-county strategy,” former Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican, said at that event.

Trump’s campaign and outside groups supporting his candidacy have outspent Harris and her allies on advertising in Wisconsin, $35 million to $31 million, since she became a candidate on July 23, according to the media-tracking firm AdImpact.

Harris and outside groups supporting her candidacy had more advertising time reserved in Wisconsin from Oct. 1 through Nov. 5, more than $25 million compared with $20 million for Trump and his allies.

The Harris campaign has 50 offices across 43 counties with more than 250 staff in Wisconsin, said her spokesperson Timothy White. The Trump campaign said it has 40 offices in the state and dozens of staff.

Harris rallied supporters in Madison in September at an even that drew more than 10,000 people. On Thursday, she made an appeal to moderate and disgruntled conservatives by holding an event in Ripon, the birthplace of the Republican Party, along with former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, one of Trump’s most prominent Republican antagonists.

Harris and Trump are focusing on Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, the “blue wall” states that went for Trump in 2016 and flipped to Biden in the next election.

While Trump’s campaign is bullish on its chances in Pennsylvania as well as Sunbelt states, Wisconsin is seen as more of a challenge.

“Wisconsin, tough state,” said Trump campaign senior adviser Chris LaCivita, who worked on Republican Sen. Ron Johnson’s winning reelection campaign in 2022.

“I mean, look, that’s going to be a very tight — very, very tight, all the way to the end. But where we are organizationally now, comparative to where we were organizationally four years ago, I mean, it’s completely different,” LaCivita said.

He also cited Michigan as more of a challenge. “But again, these are states that Biden won and carried and so they’re going to be brawls all the way until the end and we’re not ceding any of that ground.”

The candidates are about even in Wisconsin, based on a series of polls that have shown little movement since Biden dropped out in late July. Those same polls also show high enthusiasm among both parties.

Mark Graul, who ran then-President George W. Bush’s 2004 campaign in Wisconsin, said the number of campaign visits speaks to Wisconsin’s decisive election role.

The key for both sides, he said, is persuading infrequent voters to turn out.

“Much more important, in my opinion, than rallies,” Graul said.

Associated Press writers Thomas Beaumont in Des Moines, Iowa, and Jill Colvin in Butler, Pennsylvania, contributed to this report.

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives at a campaign event at Dane Manufacturing, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Waunakee, Wis. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event at Dane Manufacturing, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Waunakee, Wis. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives for a campaign event Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Prairie du Chien, Wis. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)