Friedl homers twice on 29th birthday, Reds rout the Cardinals 9-2 to sweep series

CINCINNATI (AP) — TJ Friedl homered twice on his 29th birthday, Jonathan India also hit two home runs and drove in four runs and the Cincinnati Reds completed a three-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals with a 9-2 victory Wednesday night.

Friedl and Barry Larkin — on April 28, 1994 — are the only Reds since at least 1901 with multihomer games on their birthday.

“I don’t know the previous birthdays or what I did, but I know this one I’ll remember for my life,” Friedl said. “Having my family out here with me today, celebrating this morning and then coming to the field and doing that, stuff you dreamed of as a kid. So it was awesome.”

Tyler Stephenson also homered to help the Reds sweep a three-game series for the first time since July 2-4 at the New York Yankees.

The Reds have won their fourth straight — the first time that’s happened since they strung together seven in a row in early June — and moved into a tie with St. Louis for second place in the NL Central.

On a bullpen night for Cincinnati, six pitchers combined to allow two runs on 10 hits. Sam Moll (3-1) pitched a scoreless third for the victory.

With one out in the fourth, Will Benson walked and Noelvi Marte singled before India broke out of a 0-for-23 skid by driving a sweeper from Gibson into the seats in left field. Two batters later, Stephenson hit his 16th of the season.

India’s second homer came in the fifth, a 416-foot shot to center. Three batters later, Friedl hit a towering no-doubter to right, then hit another in the seventh off Kyle Leahy.

“I can tell that our team’s clicking,” India said. “We’re playing well. We’re stringing at-bats together. Pitching is doing really well for us.

“We are a playoff team,” he said. “I always say that. We’ve had some tough stretches this year but, you know, it’s part of baseball. We need to find ways to win. We are now, and I think it’s a perfect time to get hot.”

Elly De La Cruz had a two-out, RBI double in the eighth.

St. Louis starter Kyle Gibson (7-5) allowed seven runs and seven hits, including four homers, through 4 2/3 innings.

Alec Burleson and Nolan Arenado had RBI singles for the Cardinals in the sixth.

The Cardinals were last swept April 19-21 by division-leading Milwaukee.

“(The Reds) took some really good swings and hit the ball hard. We didn’t,” Cardinals manage Oliver Marmol said. “What it comes down to is they hit the ball hard — 10 home runs to one in the series. They out slugged us. It was more than enough.”

UP NEXT

Cardinals: After an off day, open a three-game home series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night. Starting pitchers haven’t been named.

Reds: Following an off day, host the Kansas City Royals for a three-game interleague series beginning on Friday night. Right-hander Nick Martinez (6-5, 3-16 ERA) gets the start against Royals right-hander Michael Lorenzen (5-6, 3.79).

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

St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Kyle Gibson throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Emilio Pagán throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Kyle Gibson follows through on a pitch during the first inning of a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Kyle Gibson reacts after the Cincinnati Reds scored four runs during the third inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Cincinnati Reds' Tyler Stephenson (37) is greeted by TJ Friedl (29) as he crosses home plate after hitting a solo home run during the third inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Cincinnati Reds' TJ Friedl runs the bases after hitting a solo home run in the fifth inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024, in Cincinnati. St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado (28) and St. left fielder Tommy Pham (29) look away. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Cincinnati Reds' TJ Friedl (29) celebrates with teammate Jeimer Candelario (3) after hitting a solo home run in the fifth inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Cincinnati Reds' Jonathan India hits a solo home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024, in Cincinnati. St. Louis Cardinals catcher Willson Contreras is left. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Cincinnati Reds' Jonathan India, right, celebrates with Elly De La Cruz as he crosses the plate after hitting a solo home run in the fifth inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Cincinnati Reds' Jonathan India, right, celebrates with Elly De La Cruz as he crosses the plate after hitting a solo home run in the fifth inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (AP) — Feeling pretty good on a Saturday night, Connor Zilisch acted like so many teenagers when he slammed an energy drink on a table and started scrolling through his phone.

Then Zilisch interrupted his session with the media because he had to take a call.

“From Dale,” he said.

Yeah, Dale Earnhardt Jr. the Hall of Fame driver who now fields a ride for Zilisch in NASCAR's second-tier Xfinity Series.

That Zilisch could have been scrolling the rest of the night through congratulatory texts and TikTok highlights — and perhaps taking more calls from famous names — is what separates him from any other teenager. The 18-year-old next big thing is a NASCAR race winner.

Zilisch raced to victory in his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut, saving enough fuel in a wreck-marred finish to allow the teen sensation to take the first of what many in the industry expect to be a career full of checkered flags on Saturday at Watkins Glen International.

“I’ve worked so hard for this one,” Zilisch said. “I’ve been working on this one for months. It’s so special.”

Zilisch, who turned 18 in July, spent the majority of the race leading in the No. 88 Chevrolet for JR Motorsports and was nowhere near the chaos in the back of the pack, but he was forced to stretch his fuel.

The race was red-flagged for about 20 minutes — where Zilisch killed time by radioing his team for college football scores — and the race was eventually forced into double overtime, though there was never a serious battle on the 2.45-mile road course for the lead.

“It's just a sense of relief knowing that I can compete against those guys,” Zilisch said.

Zilisch has been pegged by NASCAR drivers as one of the next big future stars.

“It’s cool to have people tell me that,” he said. “I still have a long road ahead of me, a lot of races ahead of me.”

His future truly started at Watkins Glen.

“He’s been really impressive,” Cup driver William Byron said. “He’s doing all the right things and making a lot of speed out there.”

Sheldon Creed was second, followed by AJ Allmendinger, Chandler Smith and Shane van Gisbergen.

Zilisch was go-karting before he started school, and raced in Europe until he was urged by former NASCAR star Kevin Harvick to try stock car racing. Zilisch signed a multiyear development deal earlier this year with Trackhouse Racing.

He’s run a variety of different series this year in the CARS Tour, ARCA, Trans-Am, IMSA and Trucks. Once he turned 18 in July, he was entered into four Xfinity Series races for JR Motorsports.

Age eligible to compete in IMSA sports car racing, he made his debut in January as the endurance driver for Era Motorsports and picked up LMP2 class wins in both the Rolex 24 at Daytona and again at the 12 Hours of Sebring.

Zilisch made an instant impact at The Glen when he trounced the field a night earlier and won the ARCA Series race.

Zilisch had just two career starts in the NASCAR national ranks, both earlier this season in the Truck Series. Pressure? He won the pole and finished fourth at Circuit of the Americas in Texas.

He landed with an Xfinity team that all but guarantees future success.

Zilisch joins the team owned by Earnhardt. The team is a perennial Xfinity title contender that has helped launched Cup Series careers for Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski, Byron and Tyler Reddick, among others. He’ll finish this season for Earnhardt with speedway starts at Kansas, Homestead-Miami and Phoenix.

Zilisch had time to chat with the boss.

“Thank you, I appreciate it, Dale. It's cool, it's really cool,” Zilisch into the phone. “I appreciate everything you've done for me. It's a pleasure to be racing for you guys.”

Zilisch held up his phone so everyone could hear the familiar voice of NASCAR's 15-time most popular driver.

“Tell everyone I said hi,” Earnhardt said to laughter.

Zilisch won the pole and won the first stage before he ran into his only hiccup in the race, a penalty for cutting the course during a caution that dropped him out of the top three.

He regained his lead late and earned the win — yes, a true dream come true.

“There’s a lot to think about when you’re going into your debut like this,” Zilisch said. “I had my own hotel room, so nobody to talk to, just kind of lay there in thought and dream about winning.”

Zilisch became the seventh driver in Xfinity history to win his first race in the second-tier series.

Just hold the bubbly — because he’s only 18, Zilisch was forced to spray an energy drink in victory lane.

“I prepare for every race like it’s the most important race of my life,” he said. “That’s kind of what I did today.”

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

FILE - Connor Zilisch greets team members after the Rolex 24-hour auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Jan. 28, 2024, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux, File)