CINCINNATI -- In the series opener against the Reds, St. Louis made it clear who was on top and who was on the bottom of the National League Central.

In the two games that followed, the script was flipped on the Redbirds, however. The Cardinals fell, 7-6, in front of 31,566 on Wednesday at Great American Ball Park and suffered their second straight loss.

Where they were stung worst in both losses was the cornerstone of the team: starting pitching.

One night after Jason Marquis gave up 10 runs, Mark Mulder experienced déjà vu Wednesday afternoon. It was the first time this season the Cardinals had dropped a series to the Reds.

"[Mulder] felt fine," manager Tony La Russa said. "It was just a lot like [Tuesday]. Location was a problem. And when you don't locate against a club like this -- I mean, this is a good-looking offense. And they capitalize."

Mulder (8-5) allowed seven runs in just four innings of work. And, like Marquis, it was also his worst start of the season.

"Location was terrible," Mulder said. "It's been on and off like that all year, and it gets frustrating after a while. It's tough, because I know I'm not a pitcher like this. I'm better than this. And, like I said, it wears on you, and it gets to be frustrating."

While Mulder has had an up-and-down season, no previous game had looked quite like this one.

Heading into Wednesday's game, Mulder was stellar against left-handed hitters. He boasted a .125 batting average against them and hadn't allowed them a home run all season.

But that was before Adam Dunn hit two home runs. Dunn's homer in the second was part of a four-run inning in which every Red in the lineup came to the plate. The very next inning, Dunn led off with another solo shot, the sixth run of the game allowed by Mulder.

"I made a few mistakes to the lefties," Mulder said. "The first one to Dunn was a fastball in that just stayed right in the middle. The next one was a slider that was obviously up and over the middle. You're going to hit those pitches."

After Dunn's second home run, Mulder lasted only an inning longer. That's when he saw the bullpen and the offense finally take over.

Cardinals batters hadn't recorded so much as a hit until the fifth inning, when they finally got to Reds starter Ramon Ortiz. Eventually, the team did score three off Ortiz.

"He was getting outs," Jim Edmonds said with a dismayed laugh. "He made some good pitches when he had to and got through the lineup a couple times. And that's what he's supposed to do. So, he did a good job."

The Cardinal relievers did their jobs, too. Al Reyes, Ray King and Julian Tavarez did everything they could to stop the bleeding, allowing just one hit in the final four innings to keep the Cardinals in the game.

In the eighth, the Cardinals plated their final three runs of the game. Albert Pujols, Reggie Sanders and Larry Walker all knocked runners in. But the comeback was stifled a run shy, sending Mulder to the loss.

The game wasn't all bad news for the Redbirds, though. Wednesday marked the return of Edmonds to the lineup. Edmonds went 1-for-4, striking out to end the game. Afterward he was asked how he felt, but the only thing on his mind was the loss.

"It's time to go," Edmonds said. "Once I can get into the game, I just have to keep going. But this isn't really that big of a deal. This isn't about me. It's just about us getting beat today.

"I'm feeling fine. But I'm not the important part of this team. We didn't play well today, and Mark didn't have his best stuff. He struggled a little bit."

Sure enough, Mulder did struggle. For the second straight game, a Cardinal starter picked up the loss, again coming at the hands of another Reds outburst.