MONTERREY, Mexico -- The Reds broadened their reach and made the most of their Mexico experience. But they couldn¡¯t get to enjoy a two-game series sweep of the Cardinals after Sunday¡¯s 9-5 loss at Estadio de Beisbol Monterrey.

Here are three takeaways from the game, and the Mexico Series:

Bullpen takes some lumps
Cincinnati¡¯s bullpen came into Sunday with the National League¡¯s second-best ERA at 2.91. Two usually reliable relievers faltered as both Amir Garrett and Jared Hughes gave up home runs during the five-run, nine-batter top of the seventh.

It was a 4-4 game when Garrett took over from Michael Lorenzen after his two scoreless innings, and Matt Carpenter slugged his first pitch for a leadoff home run to left-center field. It was the first run allowed by Garrett in the young season, totaling 6 2/3 innings in eight appearances. He had also retired 14 of his past 16 batters entering the game.

¡°Amir has been doing such a great job. He¡¯s been pitching really well,¡± Reds manager David Bell said. ¡°We¡¯ve been using him. He had one hitter today, and we felt good about that. Matt Carpenter is obviously a great hitter. We would do it again with Amir, but Matt won that competition there. That was a huge hit in the game for them.¡±

Hughes, who gave up four homers all of last season, surrendered his first of 2019. He picked up two outs once Garrett departed, but his 2-1 pitch to Marcell Ozuna was tattooed to deep left field for Ozuna's second homer of the afternoon. The inning kept going as Hughes allowed two singles that sandwiched a walk to load the bases.

¡°We had Jared ready to come in to face the right-handers throughout their order. It didn¡¯t work out today, but our guys have been pitching really well -- our starters and our relievers,¡± Bell said.

One reliever who has been struggling, Zach Duke, walked Tyler O¡¯Neill to force in a run and then allowed pinch-hitter Jose Martinez¡¯s two-run single. The runs were charged to Hughes, but Duke has a 8.31 ERA in his eight appearances in 2019.

Winker¡¯s opposite-field power
Reds left fielder Jesse Winker has got the touch. He¡¯s got the (opposite-field) power. On the heels of Lorenzen¡¯s RBI double in the bottom of the fifth inning, it was Winker¡¯s three-run home run off Miles Mikolas that made it a 4-4 game.

On a first-pitch curveball from Mikolas, Winker lifted an opposite field drive that landed in the left-field bullpen. With a five-game hitting streak, he has homers in four of the games ¨C all were hit to the opposite field and most of them came in clutch moments.

Winker¡¯s eighth-inning solo homer on Wednesday vs. the Marlins was the tiebreaker in a 2-1 Reds win. On Saturday against Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright, Winker notched Cincinnati¡¯s first hit when his solo long ball made it a 1-1 game and turned the tide toward a 5-2 win.

¡°Power to all fields is the goal,¡± Winker said. ¡°I feel like it¡¯s one of those things, it¡¯s just kind of a reaction. I¡¯m trying to stay inside the ball and drive it into the air, really. If it gets up and gets out to left field, perfect. The swing today, I was just trying to hit a fly ball with something behind it. It was a curveball out over the plate. I was able to drive it to left. I know all of them have went in that general direction, but it¡¯s just been kind of where the pitch is at.¡±

Winker opened the season 1-for-24 until he went deep on Tuesday and is 7-for-18 (.389) since. He was one of the hottest rookie hitters in baseball last season until right shoulder surgery in July prematurely finished his year.

¡°We know he can hit. He¡¯s still a young player who is continually getting better,¡± Bell said. ¡°We¡¯re trying not to overreact like we¡¯ve talked about to any slow starts or anything like that because we believe in what they¡¯ve done and what they¡¯re going to do. I think that¡¯s really the key. He never accepted it and didn¡¯t like that. At the same time, he just kept working through it and trusting he would get out of it.¡±

Monterrey memories
The international trip to Mexico brought goodwill and the Major League Baseball experience back to a country that loves the sport. It also was a thrill for the players, especially those from Latin America.

¡°It brings back a lot of memories,¡± said Cuban reliever Raisel Iglesias, who got the save in Saturday¡¯s win. ¡°I feel as if I were pitching again in Cuba, where fans yell and get really involved. It feels the same here. ¡­ It gives me pride to come back to Latin America, to have been fortunate enough to pitch the first game and have things come out all right.¡±

Reds right fielder Yasiel Puig, who hit his first home run as a member of the Reds with a first-pitch shot to left-center field in the eighth inning against Mexico native Giovanny Gallegos, found the experience to be what he had hoped for.

¡°I love the way Latin players play and [fans] cheer your name and yell your name and support all their teammates on both sides,¡± Puig said. ¡°When you get to two strikes, people are yelling out, ¡®Strike him out, strike him out.¡¯ I love to hear voices in Spanish across the stadium. That¡¯s super cool.¡±