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The Cincinnati Reds were one lazy fly ball away from beating the St. Louis Cardinals Thursday afternoon in Great American Ball Park. Then pure pandemonium and an incomprehensible 10-9 defeat. Muttering the final score is pure simplicity. This game had more twists and turns than the Monaco Grand Prix. The biggest play came in the top of the ninth inning with the Reds leading, 5-4, the lead provided by Matt McLain’s grand slam home run in the sixth inning. The Cardinals had runners on second third, but there were two outs and Reds pitcher Brock Burke had two strikes on JJ Wetherholt. He lifted a soft lazy fly ball to left. Game over? Not even close. Left fielder TJ Friedl was fighting the sun holding his glove in front of his eyes. Center fielder Dane Myers was thundering to the rescue, a long run. He got there in time. But he was not on good terms with Lady Luck on this play. The ball bounced off his glove, a two-run error and a 6-5 St. Louis lead. And it got uglier. The Cardinals scored four more run, a six-run inning, all six runs unearned and a 10-5 St. Louis lead. Was it over? Not even close. The Reds scored four runs in the bottom of the ninth, creeping to within 10-9 and they had the bases loaded with two outs. Matt McLain didn’t need a grand slam this time, just a single would score two for a win. He hit the ball, hit it hard. But it was a game-ending line drive to right field. Myers has contributed mightily in several Reds’ wins this year, but long after the game he sat by himself in the deserted dugout, head down. “TJ looked like he was fighting the sun so I was kinda glad Myers called him off,” said Reds manager Tito Francona. “He just didn’t look it into his glove. It just glanced off.” For six innings, it looked as if they were playing a videotape or Memorex from Wednesday’s 5-4 Reds win. On Wednesday, the Reds had no runs and only one hit and trailed, 2-0. Then the bottom of the order got on base and Sal Stewart hit a three-run homer to give the Reds the lead. On Thursday, same thing. The Reds had no runs and one hit through five innings and trailed, 4-0, via a three-run home run from Jordan Walker. Again, the bottom of the order got on base, the Reds scored one run and then McLain unloaded his grand slam. It looked as though the Reds would again win, 5-4. It would have been the ninth straight time the Reds won a game by one run. Then came the ninth inning and there can’t have been many Litle League games unfold the way this one did. Reds closer Emilo Pagan had pitched two straight days so Brock Burke was assigned to close it. But pinch-hitter Jose Fermin singled and Bryan Torres was hit by a pitch. Brock retired the next two, with the runners taking third and second on Blaze Jordan’s fly to right field. Then came the Myers’ flub and two runs. Ivan Herrera was intentionally walked and the Reds paid when Alec Burleson singled for another run. Burke walked Walker to fill the bases and walked Joshua Baez for another run. Fermin, who opened the inning with a single, singled again, this time for two runs and a 10-5 Cardinals lead. And yet the Reds nearly pulled it out against an overtaxed and overused St. Louis bullpen. McLain opened the bottom of the ninth with a walk issued by George Soriano. After Michael Togla struck out, Myers walked. TJ Friedl’s slide-for-life reached 0-for-28 when he struck out and the Reds were down to their last out, still trailing, 10-5. Pinch-hitter Eugenio Suarez singled for his 1,000th career RBI to make it 10-6. When Soriano walked designated hitter Elly De La Cruz to fill the bases, St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol brought in his closer, former Reds pitcher Riley O’Brien. And it was near disaster for the Cardinals. He gave up a first-pitch two-run single to Sal Stewart, who reclaimed the league RBI lead with 96. JJ Bleday walked to fill the bases and Tyler Stephenson, 0-for-14 with nine strikeouts, also walked, forcing in a run and it was 10-9. Then it ended on McLain’s hard line drive to right field. Francona, an MLB manager for 25 years at Philadelphia, Boston, Cleveland and Cincinnati, said this one was probably the strangest he ever managed. “I thought McLain’s ball was in there, but they play very deep in their outfield to begin with,” said Francona. “Still, I thought it had enough. “When you rifle a ball to right field like that, you are doing a lot of things right,” he added about McLain’s surge — five hits, two runs, three RBI and two walks during the series. The Cardinals won the five-game series, three games to two and remain within striking distance of a wild card spot while the Reds are over their heads in deep water. Amazingly, at the deadline the Cardinals traded three key players — Lars Nootbaar, Dustin May and JoJo Romero — indicating they were tossing in the towel. Not so. The Reds, though, did close to nothing at the deadline, appearing to give up on the season. If they did, it’s working.