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The short bullpen caused by usage in recent days created an 鈥渙pportunity鈥� for Cardinals relievers to take those high-leverage spots. But when a chance to secure outs in key moments against Cincinnati presented itself to right-handers Chris Roycroft and Ryan Fernandez, scuffles led to troubling appearances.聽

When Roycroft pitched the seventh inning with the Cardinals holding a 4-3 lead following a three-run sixth inning by the Cardinals and six innings from starter Matthew Liberatore, Roycroft faced four batters, recorded one out, and was charged with three runs in 1/3 of an inning. In the eighth inning, after RBI singles from Brendan Donovan and Ivan Herrera closed a 6-4 deficit, Ryan Fernandez allowed a single and walked back-to-back batters to load the bases with one out in the inning.

Fernandez鈥檚 struggles led Cardinals manager Oli Marmol to call on Kyle Leahy, who Marmol hoped not to use for more than one inning on Monday night. Leahy gave up a run on a sacrifice fly and recorded a strikeout to end the inning, but had his outing tumble in the ninth inning as he allowed four runs in an 11-6 loss to the Reds at Busch Stadium.

鈥淚n a perfect world, he gives you just the ninth,鈥� Marmol said of his usage with Leahy. 鈥淚f we had to get off the field and he has to get four outs, that's one thing. But I hated, absolutely hated, using him for more than that. He's done a tremendous job for us.

鈥淚t was not his fault that the game gets to that point. The other guys, at some point, have to demonstrate the ability to get outs at this level. That's just the bottom line. We can't use the same guys every day. We had a lead. Offense did a pretty nice job. Other guys have to step up. It's their time to do that.鈥�

Roycroft's chance to take the ball late Monday night came after the Cardinals' lineup chased Reds starter Zack Littell from his outing.

Limited to one run through the first five innings vs. Littell, the Cardinals (73-78) produced two runs in the sixth inning off the Reds' righty on a two-out, two-RBI double from Alec Burleson. An at-bat later, Willson Contreras鈥� single that scored Burleson propelled them to their first and only lead of the night.

The lead was wiped away with one out in the seventh, when Roycroft gave up a two-run double to Matt McLain. The double to McLain signaled the end of Roycroft鈥檚 night after he allowed a leadoff single to Tyler Stephenson and walked Elly De La Cruz on seven pitches.

McLain鈥檚 double and the groundout from Ke鈥橞ryan Hayes in the at-bat before him came on the first pitch Roycroft offered to begin the at-bat.

鈥淚 lost him (De La Cruz) 3-2, and then they just kind of jumped on pitches really, really early, and they were really aggressive, so they kind of flipped the switch after being really patient,鈥� Roycroft said.

The outing raised Roycroft鈥檚 ERA to 7.41. The 28-year-old who opened the season in the Cardinals' bullpen has allowed five runs (four earned) in four innings since being recalled to the majors when rosters expanded on Sept. 1.

鈥淭he end goal, obviously, is just, are you able to get outs? That's number one. To answer your question, yes, it's get outs. It's been a struggle,鈥� Roycroft said.

The Cardinals' lineup provided a quick response to the blown lead as Nolan Arenado, in his return from the IL, collected his second hit with a leadoff double to right field off Graham Ashcraft. Thomas Saggese鈥檚 single in the next at-bat advanced Arenado to third base. Two-out singles by Donovan and Herrera later in the inning scored both to tie the game at 6-6.

With the bases loaded after Santillan hit Burleson, Nolan Gorman grounded out to end the inning in a pinch-hit spot for Contreras, as Contreras was forced to exit the game because of right bicep tightness.

The opportunity to pitch in a tied game began with Fernandez recording a flyout on a ball Austin Hays skied to the warning track in left field. The outing began to unravel with a single from rookie Sal Stewart and back-to-back walks to Stephenson and De La Cruz.

Fernandez鈥檚 walk to De La Cruz signaled the end to the righty's night after 18 pitches and one out recorded against four batters faced.

The run charged to Fernandez, who opened the season in the Cardinals bullpen after posting a 3.51 ERA in 66 2/3 innings as a rookie in 2024, raised his ERA to 9.00. He鈥檚 now allowed at least one run in four of his previous five outings following Monday鈥檚.

鈥淧art of it is opportunity, but some of it is also guys that have been here and at some point need to show the ability to get outs at this level, right? It's not like an endless opportunity. Other guys have done that and have ran with it,鈥� said Marmol, who noted strides by Leahy, rookie Matt Svanson, and Riley O鈥橞rien as they鈥檝e each grown into roles. 鈥溾�� They've done a really nice job of taking the ball and proving what they're capable of doing at the highest level and being consistent with that.

鈥淭hat's the name of the game. There's not a level above this, so at some point you've got to demonstrate the ability to do that.鈥�

Contreras describes status as 鈥榙ay-to-day鈥�

Having dealt with tightness聽in his right bicep since early September, Contreras said late Monday night he has received daily treatment but has felt the injury get 鈥渁 little tired or a little worse than before.鈥�

Contreras said he had not had imaging done on the bicep. He expressed caution in managing the injury while throwing and swinging a bat, as check swings have caused him some pain.

Contreras felt his bicep tighten up after his at-bat in the sixth inning and was removed from the game to avoid the risk of worsening it. He described his status as day-to-day as he managed the injury, and hopes for a healthy finish through the final two weeks of the season.聽