Gibson held the Reds hitless for five innings and finished his night in Great American Ball Park with one run, two hits, two walks and six strikeouts.
And offensively, it was a pair of Nolans who perplexed Reds starter Andrew Abbott. Nolan Arenado and Nolan Gorman both crushed two-run home runs off the Cincinnati left-hander.
While Cincinnati’s four-game winning streak was wiped out, the Cardinals won their 11th game in the last 14 and sixth in their last seven games.
The Cardinals outhit the Reds, 13-4, with the Reds’ one run coming on Jeimer Candelario’s home run.
Abbott retired the first eight Cardinals and had two outs in the third when he gave up a single to No. 9 hitter Brendan Donovan.
Rookie Masyn Winn extended his hitting streak to 17 games with a run-scoring double and a 1-0 St. Louis lead.
With one out in the fourth, Ivan Herrera singled and Arenado lined one into the left-field seats and it was 3-0.
Only two Reds had reached base, both on walks, when Will Benson homered leading off the sixth, cutting the St. Louis margin to 3-1.
But Abbott walked Dylan Carlson to open the seventh and Gorman cleared the right-field wall, pushing the Cardinals in front, 5-1.
Abbott has been victimized by baseballs flying out of the park. He has given up 23 earned runs and 15 have come on home runs.
The Cardinals added a run in the seventh when Donovan doubled and took third on right fielder Jake Fraley’s error, then scored on Winn’s ground ball to make it 7-1.
While the Reds kept the bottom portion of the Los Angeles Dodgers batting order silent during their three-game sweep, the bottom of the St. Louis bating order did damage.
Batters six through nine had four hits, drove in two and scored four.
Other than Benson’s home run, the Reds never threatened until the ninth inning when they were down six runs.
With one out, Fraley lined one to right that was called foul on a ball that appeared to kick up chalk. After an umpire’s review, the ball was called fair and Fraley was placed on second with a double.
After Tyler Stephenson grounded out for the second out, Nick Martini was hit by a pitch and Jonathan India walked to fill the bases.
But pinch-hitter Mike Ford took a called third strike to end it.
The Reds still have an opportunity to win their second straight series if they can beat the Cardinals on Wednesday afternoon. Frankie Montas pitches for the Reds, but the Cardinals are undecided who they will pitch.
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