First off, before we dive into this game, I want to say we lost a Cardinal legend yesterday and it’s one that sits close to home for a lot of the fan base. Whitey Herzog was a trailblazer in the franchises history and we owe him a lot. Rest in peace, Whitey, may The White Rat live forever.
This game had that “Whiteyball” sorta vibe- defense, a Winn stolen base, and the old dawg Lance Lynn cruising through seven innings.
The A’s would strike first in the bottom of the 2nd, cashing in on a Nevin infield single to Winn. Winn would make a miraculous play up the middle but the throw would get away from him and allow Nevin to advance to 2B on the error. The next three batters all swung at the first offering from Lynn, all putting them in play. Butler fly out to Noot, McCann rbi single to CF, Hernaiz fly out to Siani.
The Cardinals would answer back to tie it up right away in their half of the 3rd. Sears would give up back-to-back walks to Winn and Walker and Siani would lay down a perfect sac-bunt to 3B to advance them up each 90 feet. Donovan then grounded out to Toro at 3B, but Winn was able to come home to tie it, 1-1.
McCann kept being a pest vs Lynn in the bottom of the 5th, taking him deep to RF to put the A’s back on top, 2-1.
But guess what? The Cardinals answered back right away in the 6th.
Arenado, the birthday boy, opened the inning with his second hit of the game to LF (he delivered two of the four hits for the Cardinals tonight).
Herrera and Noot would then draw walks to load the bases for Masyn Winn. Winn would come through with a sac-fly to Bleday in CF and Walker followed that up with a sac-fly of his own to Butler in RF to put the Birds on top, 3-2.
Lynn would go back out for the 7th and he’d get some help right away from a defensive replacement in CF, VS2. Victor would take away a screamer from Butler on the first pitch, getting a perfect read and laying out to rob Butler.
JoJo and Helsley would work the 8th and 9th, respectively. Each picking up strikeouts to end their innings, Helsley picking up his 7th save of the season to close out a 3-2 victory.
Steven Matz (1-0, 1.80) will aim for the series sweep tomorrow afternoon, matching up against Paul Blackburn (1-0, 0.00). First pitch is scheduled for 2:37pm c/t.
Cheers, Stew