Cardinals Comeback to Walk It Off in the 9th 3-2, Take Three of Four from Rockies
The Lizard King took the mound this afternoon in search of a series win vs a good Rockies team. Mikolas began his day retiring the Rox in order, starting his afternoon with back-to-back k’s of Blackman and LeMahieu (activated from the DL today). Mikolas ran a fastball up and in to get Blackmon and threw a slider on the outside of the plate to get LeMahieu. Tyler O’Neill took extra bases away from Arenado next, running down a for sure double, deep in the RCF gap, reaching the warning track to secure the out, bouncing off the wall in front of the bullpen.
Antonio Senzatela would allow a two out single to O’Neill in the bottom half of the 1st, getting stranded on first on an excellent play from the catcher, Tony Wolters, throwing out Ozuna on a slow tapper up the 3B line.
Mikolas would pick up two quick outs to open the top of the 2nd, picking up his 3rd strikeout on Story, getting him to swing and miss at a slider on the outer half. Parra (3-4) would hit a single to LF, getting stranded after Desmond grounded out off of Mikolas glove to Garcia, going 1-4-3 on the play.
Trap House Gyorko opened the bottom of the 2nd with a single to CF, but Senzatela would record three straight outs, ending the inning by striking out Bader on a slider.
The Cardinals would grab an early lead in the bottom of the 3rd after a 12-pitch inning from the Lizard King, picking up strikeout number four on a changeup to get Blackmon for the second time. The Lizard King himself would bloop a single to RF to leadoff the bottom of the 3rd. Carp, leadoff guy, then hit a single to CF to put the pressure on early in the inning. With Yadi batting, Senzatela would fire a wild pitch, allowing Mikolas to take third on the play, a ballsy play to say the least, sliding in safely, but not by much. Senzatela would win the battle vs Yadi, getting him to pop out to Story. Mr. Canada, Tyler O’Neill, then hit a sac-fly to the waning track, bringing in the pitcher Mikolas to make it 1-0.
The Rox would regain the lead in the 4th, picking up back-to-back singles from Arenado & Gonzalez (CarGo reaching on a bunt single). With Trevor Story at the dish, Tyler O’Neill would lay out, full extension down the RF line to rob Story of a sure RBI double, for the first out. Parra kept his bat hot, hitting an RBI single to LF’er Swags Ozuna, who would pick up and OF assist by hosting down CarGo at 3B. Ian Desmond came up next, tapping an infield single up the 3B line, Mikolas fielding it trying to make an immaculate throw, letting it go past Carp for an error, Parra scoring to make it 2-1 on the play.
Carp must’ve scooped some salsa before his next at bat, smoking a single into RF with two outs in the bottom of the 5th. Senzatela would end the inning on his 11th pitch, getting Yadi to fly out to CarGo.
Mikolas would need only 21 pitches to complete his next two innings on the afternoon, retiring the side in order on 9 pitches in the 5th inning. The Lizard King recorded two quick outs to open the 6th, picking up two more ground ball outs, bringing his game total to six. Gerardo Parra, who else, would hit a two out single into RF to keep things alive for COL. Mikolas ended the inning getting Desmond to ground out to Trap House down at the hot corner, Cards still trailing by a run.
The Cardinals would burn a golden opportunity in the bottom of the 6th, stranding the bases loaded without pushing the tying run across. Senzatela would give up a leadoff walk to O’Neill, before getting two fly outs to CarGo in RF (DeJong & Trap House). Yairo Muñoz would strikeout on a slider in the dirt, but Wolters would, for whatever reason, throw the ball down to second base trying to get a force out on the moving runner, O’Neill. Nobody was at the bag, and the throw carried into CF, as the Cardinals now had runners on the corners. Garcia would get hit by a fastball from Senzatela, loading the bases for Bader (0-2, 2 strikeouts). Senzatela would strikeout Bader for the third consecutive at bat, his fifth of the game, getting him to chase after a slider outside.
Mikolas would throw his last inning in the top of the 7th, allowing a leadoff single to Wolters to LF. McMahon would pinch-hit for Senzatela, striking out on the slider from Mikolas, his best pitch of the afternoon. Mikolas ended his afternoon getting Blackmon and LeMahieu to fly out to Bader in CF.
Oh would work a scoreless 7th inning for COL, picking up a strikeout on Fowler (pinch-hitting) to begin his outing. Oh would retire the side in order, getting Carp and Yadi next to head to the 8th inning with the Rockies still on top 2-1.
Meanwhile, at my house, I began drinking some necessary rally beers in the top of the 7th, this is always a key component for Cardinal comeback victories.
John Brebbia and Chasen Shreve would toss scoreless 8th and 9th innings, not allowing a hit. Brebbia would strikeout two, ending his inning getting Story to swing and miss at a fastball, as Yadi would throw out CarGo (walk) trying to swipe second base, apparently sliding too far past the base.
Paul DeJong did the same thing in the bottom of the 8th, and that was an inning of false hope so we won’t even talk about it.
Shreve would retire the Rockies in order in the 9th, striking out Desmond looking at a fastball for the second out of the inning. Shreve would throw 15 pitches, getting Wolters to fly out to O’Neill to end his appearance. Little did Shreve know, he was about to pick up his first career win as a member of the Cardinals.
Wade Davis would come in looking to pick up his 32nd save on the season, getting some help from Arenado to begin the frame. Arenado would take away a double down the line off the bat of Muñoz, throwing him out at first base for the first out. Then three consecutive hits happened, because of the rally beers, of course. Garcia would spray a single the opposite way to LF, Bader would hit a single the opposite way to RF, sending Garcia to third base to put runners on the corners for Cafecíto (pinch-hitting for Shreve). Bader would waste no time, stealing second base on the first offering from Davis to Cafecíto. Cafecíto sent Cardinals fans home happy, and more importantly, the Cardinals on a #HappyFlight to Pittsburgh. Cafecíto delivered the 9th walk-off victory of the season, lining a two-run single to RF to score Garcia and Bader for the 3-2 comeback win. The Cardinals won the series, taking three games out of four from a team ahead of them in the wildcard standings.
The Cardinals (56-53) hit the road for a nine-game road trip, stopping in Pittsburgh first to face their division rivals, the Pirates (56-53). The Cardinals will send John Gant (3-4, 3.49) to the mound in game-one, as the Cards will get their first look at the newly acquired, Chris Archer (3-5, 4.31).
Thanks for reading, cheers!
Game 109 is in the books
by Stew/@StewStilez
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