Reds' Votto beats Cardinals with walk-off HR

CINCINNATI -- A clever slide into third base got overturned on review, and the St. Louis Cardinals' big comeback came up just short.

Joey Votto homered with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning Tuesday night, powering the Cincinnati Reds to a 7-6 victory after they blew a five-run lead for the second straight game.

Votto connected off left-hander Kevin Siegrist (4-1) for his fifth career game-ending homer and Cincinnati's third homer of the game. The Cardinals scored five times in the last two innings, but it wasn't enough.

"You don't feel good about a comeback unless you win," said Matt Carpenter, who was involved in the overturned play in the ninth.

Cincinnati pulled ahead 6-1 with the help of Adam Duvall's three-run homer off Mike Leake, his fourth homer in five games. The Reds got Duvall from the Giants as part of a trade for Leake last July, and the right-hander signed with St. Louis in the offseason.

The Reds' Joey Votto gestures after hitting a walk-off home run off Cardinals relief pitcher Kevin Siegrist during the ninth inning Tuesday in Cincinnati. The Reds won 7-6.John Minchillo ~ Associated Press

Left-hander John Lamb shut down the Cardinals with his 65 mph curveball, allowing only one earned run in a career-high 7 1/3 innings. That's when the major leagues' worst bullpen let another late lead get away.

Blake Wood gave up Jhonny Peralta's bases-loaded double in the eighth, cutting it to 6-4. Carpenter tied it with a one-out, two-run double in the ninth off Tony Cingrani (1-2), the Reds' 12th blown save in 19 chances this season.

Carpenter tried to stretch his hit to a triple, setting up a potential go-ahead run, and was initially ruled safe at third, but the call was overturned after a review. Seeing that he was going to get tagged on the right arm, he pulled it away and sneaked his left arm toward the base in a very close play. After a review of 2 minutes, 27 seconds, the call was overturned.

"I thought I was safe," Carpenter said. "Usually you don't see a play like that overturned. Usually that calls stands."

Manager Mike Matheny also expected the call to be upheld, leaving the Cardinals with the go-ahead run on third base.

"I can't imagine they had a better angle than what the umpire had," Matheny said. "I didn't see anything that was clear and convincing for them to overturn it."

Duvall hit his 17th homer off Leake, the second-highest total in the NL. He hit his first career homer off Leake with the Giants in 2014. In its last seven games, Cincinnati has scored 62 runs.

"It felt a little different facing friends and people you used to play with," Leake said. "They got a three-run homer and put a pretty good swing on some other pitches. So, a good day for them."

Pete Rose watched from a seat behind home plate and got an ovation from the 24,182 fans when he was shown on the scoreboard after the seventh inning. He'll be inducted into the team's Hall of Fame later this month.

Welcome back

The Cardinals activated Peralta off the disabled list and started him at third base. He had two doubles in four at-bats.

Trainer's room

Cardinals: Catcher Brayan Pena started a rehab assignment with Class AA Springfield. Pena hurt his left knee and had surgery during spring training.

Reliever Seth Maness, who's on the DL with a sore pitching elbow, will start a rehab assignment at Springfield today.

Up next

Cardinals: Left-hander Jaime Garcia is 10-4 career against the Reds, matching Oliver Perez for the most victories over Cincinnati by an active pitcher.

Reds: Alfredo Simon is 3-1 in his career against the Cardinals.

, winning his last two decisions.