ST. LOUIS - The Cincinnati Reds bullpen continues to struggle. With and without closer Aroldis Chapman. The Reds wasted a lead for the fourth game in a row in dropping a 5-4 decision at St. Louis on Tuesday. Cincinnati built a 4-1 advantage behind a solid effort from starter Alfredo Simon. But relievers Jumbo Diaz and J.J Hoover were unable to hold onto the lead. The Reds also led 4-2 before losing 6-5 in 10 innings in the series opener on Monday. Manager Bryan Price is trying to mix and match with a taxed bullpen that is without Chapman, who missed his second consecutive game with a sore shoulder. "No Chapman makes it harder to dice up those last few innings," Price said. "Were vulnerable." The Reds used seven relievers in losing a doubleheader at Colorado on Sunday. They blew a 7-3 lead in the opener and a 4-2 lead in the nightcap. That heavy use, along with Chapmans absence, has put Price in a quandary. "Its not like we have guys in the (farm) system that have lit up the opportunity radar," he said. The Reds lost in walk-off fashion for the third time in the last four games on Tuesday. "We just have to keep looking ahead," Price said. Jon Jay was hit by a pitch from J.J. Hoover with the bases-loaded in the ninth inning, lifting the Cardinals to the win. The walk-off win was the second in as many nights for the Cardinals, who won for the fifth time in six games and remain 2 1/2 games behind Milwaukee in the NL Central. Jhonny Peraltas RBI single in the tenth inning Monday provided St. Louis with a thrilling last at-bat triumph. Matt Holliday drew a leadoff walk to start Tuesdays winning rally. He advanced to third on Matt Adams single. After Peter Bourjos ran for Holliday, Peralta walked to load the bases. Hoover (1-10) then plunked Jay to force in Bourjos with the winning run. "Its not like you hope to get hit by a pitch every time," Jay said. "But Ill take it." St. Louis recorded its sixth walk-off win of the season. The Cardinals also posted back-to-back walk-off wins July 7-8 against Pittsburgh. The Reds lost in walk-off fashion for the third time in the last four games. They are a season-high 10 games out of first place. "(This) isnt fun," Cincinnati third baseman Todd Frazier said. "Its crazy, Ive never been around something like that. I never want to see it again." Jay scored the tying run in the eighth on pinch-hitter Daniel Descalsos RBI double off reliever Jumbo Diaz. "Call it whatever you want to call it, but were just playing better baseball right now," Descalso said. "Weve got down the last couple nights and weve come back. Thats always a good sign." Reliever Pat Neshek (6-0) picked up the win with a scoreless ninth inning. TRAINERS ROOM Cardinals: INF Mark Ellis was put on the 15-day disabled list with a left oblique strain. Ellis, who is hitting .192 with 12 RBI, last played on Tuesday. INF Greg Garcia was recalled from Triple-A Memphis in time for Tuesdays contest. Garcia was hitting .273 with 40 RBI in 103 games for the Redbirds. JAY KEEPS ROLLING St. Louis OF Jon Jay extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a single in the second, the first of two hits. He is 15 for 31 during the run and reached base four times Tuesday. UP NEXT Reds: RHP Johnny Cueto (15-6, 2.06) will start the final game of the three-game set. Cueto is 7-0 with a 2.24 ERA over his last eight starts. His seven-game winning streak is a career high. Cardinals: RHP Lance Lynn (13-8, 2.91) will make his team-leading 26th start of the season. He is 5-1 lifetime against the Reds Glen Rice Hornets Jersey .com) - Fair Grounds commences its road to the Kentucky Derby Saturday with the 71st running of the $200,000 Lecomte Stakes. Cody Martin Hornets Jersey . Sterling was banned for life and fined US$2.5 million by the NBA on Tuesday for racist comments the league says he made in a recorded conversation. Nash, who plays for the rival L.A. Lakers, spoke as a representative of current NBA players at a press conference assembled by Sacramento mayor and National Basketball Players Association adviser Kevin Johnson. https://www.hornetslockerroom.com/. Edwin Encarnacion carried the torch for two days at Fenway Park this week; Melky Cabrera and Jose Bautista have had their moments; lately Anthony Gose has contributed. Miles Bridges Hornets Jersey . -- Rodney Stuckey scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half, and the Detroit Pistons beat the New York Knicks for the first time in eight meetings, 92-86 on Tuesday night. Kemba Walker Hornets Jersey . 9 Baylor Bears just needed some time to get on track in their first game after the Christmas break.Just past the midway portion of the 2013-2014 NHL schedule, Scott Cullen has his picks for first half award winners. There are surprises among the Vezina candidates, but most of the others are standard top-tier performers, even if the two Hart Trophy runners-ups have never been quite as good as they have been through the first half of the season. While there is much room for movement over the second half of the year, the Calder Trophy race might be the most volatile because no one has run away from the pack and when there are so many candidates close together, it gets easy to see big changes. Anyway, here are my picks for awards through first first half of this season: HART TROPHY Winner: Sidney Crosby, C, Pittsburgh Runners-up: Ryan Getzlaf, C, Anaheim; Patrick Kane, Chicago Comment: After what counted as a slump for him knocked Crosby to runner-up status through the first quarter, hes pulled away from the pack, leading the scoring race by nine points over Kane and 15 points ahead of Getzlaf who fit second and third, respectively. Scoring isnt everything, but all three have been on a roll through the first half of the season. Getzlafs shooting percentage (17.9%) and on-ice shooting percentage (12.0%) are a tad higher than his norm, but hes also shooting more than he has in the past and the results are there -- his 20 goals already counts as his most since 2008-2009 and has him in easy range of surpassing his career-best of 25 goals. Kane has a strong supporting cast, of course, but hes on pace for a career-high in points and shots per game. Hes slumped in his last four games, but Kane has done enough to deserve consideration. If not Kane, Capitals RW Alex Ovechkin is worthy of consideration. His 31 goals is six more than anyone else, and while Ovechkin has an unsightly minus-17, his possession stats are solid and basically has bad puck luck when it comes to percentages. NORRIS TROPHY Winner: Duncan Keith, Chicago Runners-up: Erik Karlsson, Ottawa; P.K. Subban, Montreal Comment: Keith is having a season very similar to his 2009-2010 season, when he won the Norris Trophy, putting up dominant possession stats, but also contributing more offensively -- his 42 points in 45 games (0.93 per game) represents the best per-game scoring rate of his career. Karlsson continues to be a game-changer offensively, and his possession numbers are more favourable than his minus-12 rating would suggest, but the percentages have not been playing in his favour through the first half of the season. Subban had a fantastic start to the year, but his play dipped some in December. Not enough to knock him from contention, but enough that hes closer to other contenders, like Nashvilles Shea Weber and St. Louis Alex Pietrangelo, than he is to Keith at this point. VEZINA TROPHY Winner: Ben Bishop, Tampa Bay Runners-up: Josh Harding, Minnesota; Tuukka Rask, Boston Comment: The 32 games that Bishop has played this season already counts as a career-high, so who knows where this is going (especially considering his injury on the weekend), but he leads in even-strength save percentage (.945) and has been an anchor for a team that has been playing without their top offensive threat for more than a quarter of the season. Harding was the early front-runner, but has only played two games in the past three weeks as he took time to adjust MS medication. That hes usurped Niklas Backstrom in net for the Wild is a story in itself, but Hardings numbers still have him right there with Bishop through the first half of the year. Rask is the more predictable option, the one goaltender that would have been considered a contender in the preseason because Rask is always turning in excellent wwork -- his worst save percentage in the last five seasons was .dddddddddddd918 and this years .934 currently ranks as a career-high. There is plenty of time for other goaltenders to make their move. Montreals Carey Price, Torontos Jonathan Bernier and Colorados Semyon Varlamov are among those closest to the contenders. CALDER TROPHY Winner: Torey Krug, D, Boston Runners-up: Tomas Hertl, LW, San Jose; Seth Jones, D, Nashville Comment: With 23 points in 42 games, defenceman Krug is only three points behind Colorados Nathan MacKinnon, who leads the rookie scoring race. More than half of Krugs points have come on the power play, where hes running the point on the Bruins number one unit, but without any breakout forwards, Krug is the pick at the midpoint of the season. Hertl was the leading candidate, even if he slowed down from his tremendous start, but hes already missed more than two weeks since taking a knee-on-knee hit from the Kings Dustin Brown and hes still going to be on the shelf for the forseeable future. Jones had a strong case early in the year, then his game fell off and his ice time was reduced dramatically. Hes working his way back up lately, enough to get a runner-up nod, though not far ahead of the competition. MacKinnon is starting to pick up offensively, and injuries in Colorado are opening up more opportunities. Others of note include Rangers LW Chris Kreider, Jets D Jacob Trouba, Kings RW Tyler Toffoli, Panthers C Aleksander Barkov and Stars RW Valeri Nichushkin, who could be in the best position of all if he can stick on the wing with Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin on the Stars number one line. SELKE AWARD Winner: Jonathan Toews, Chicago Runners-up: Patrice Bergeron, Boston; David Backes, St. Louis Comment: Its a familiar group, with Toews and Bergeron the last two winners. They simply excel as two-way players, typically dominating possession even when they face elite competition. Backes isnt far behind, either. Hes a beast to play against, handles tough assignments like Bergeron and Backes is probably getting a little more notice this season because hes been running alongside Alexander Steen for most of the year. Steen would be a candidate too, but thats because hes always a sound two-way player, not because of his goal-scoring explosion, and Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog has such a strong two-way game that he has a chance to work his way into consideration, which isnt easy for a winger. JACK ADAMS AWARD Winner: Bruce Boudreau, Anaheim Runners-up: Ken Hitchcock, St. Louis; Todd McLellan, San Jose Comment: Its always difficult to narrow down the best coaching jobs, but the Ducks have been so good that some credit should go to Boudreau, who is not only getting the most out of his superstars, but also the supporting cast. The St. Louis Blues play such a grind-it-out style of game that its a testament to the coaching of Ken Hitchcock that they stick with it, and they have one of the leagues best records despite what has been merely decent goaltending. Same goes for San Jose and coach Todd McLellan, who is succeeding without great numbers from his tenders and has done some line juggling to incorporate younger options. A couple of other viable candidates -- Colorados Patrick Roy and Tampa Bays Jon Cooper -- have had such strong goaltending that I have a hard time separating that from the team success. Theyre worthy, but would they be worthy if their goalies werent great? Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. ' ' '