That’s more like the Nick Martinez that the Cincinnati Reds and their fans want to see.

The Reds opened a four-game series with the St. Louis Cardinals with a 3-1 win on April 28 at Great American Ball Park before a crowd of 15,147. Martinez allowed just one run in the first inning, and it was due in large part by left fielder Gavin Lux losing track of the ball in the sun.

Lux got lost in the setting sun and had a Nolan Arenado fly ball pass over him, hitting halfway up the wall. That allowed Lars Nootbaar, who led off the game with a double, to score with two outs in the top of the first.

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From that point on, Martinez (1-3) scattered three hits over five innings (three strikeouts, two walks). Martinez was relieved by Graham Ashcraft (one inning, three strikeouts), Tony Santillan (one inning, one strikeout), and Emilio Pagán (one inning, eighth save).

The win saw the Reds improve to 16-13, and a season-best three games over the .500 mark. The Cardinals, whose starter Andre Pallante (2-2) picked up the loss, fell to 12-17.

Offensively, the Reds pulled even with St. Louis in the third inning on catcher Jose Trevino’s solo home run.

An inning later, Noelvi Marte’s gapper to the left-center field wall gave him a triple and allowed Lux to cross home plate for a 2-1 Reds lead.

Cincinnati tacked on in the bottom of the sixth inning. Austin Hays, who reached on a walk, motored all the way around from first base on a double by Lux.

That was all the scoring the Reds needed as the bullpen set down all nine of the batters it faced.

The Enquirer will update this story.