Luvofthegame
09-28-2006, 01:39 PM
By Derrick Goold
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
09/28/2006
Trailing career highs and relieved sighs behind it, Albert Pujols' game-winning -- perhaps season-saving -- home run socked the upper deck in left field with drama.
Its impact goes far beyond where it landed.
With the Cardinals down by a run with two outs in the eighth inning and a first-place summer becoming a terrible fall, Pujols hammered a knee-high fastball for a three-run blast that halted the Cardinals' collapse. His career-high 47th home run traveled 425 feet, delivered his career-high 133rd RBI and, most important, meant a win.
A delicious, long-awaited win. Advertisement
Rookie Adam Wainwright finished what rookie Anthony Reyes started with a scoreless ninth inning for a 4-2 victory Wednesday at Busch Stadium. After six nights of anguished idling and second-place Houston wins, the Cardinals' magic number to clinch a division title dropped to four.
"We don't need to play the catch-up game here. Somebody needs to catch us," Pujols said. "It's always big. It's tough with a seven-game losing streak. But it stops here."
The Cardinals were on the verge of their third eight-game losing streak of the season, and this skid had taken them to the brink of disaster. The Houston Astros, who won in extra innings in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, had cut the Cardinals' lead from 8½ games to 1½ games in seven days.
In manager Tony La Russa's words before Wednesday's game, the Cardinals had "mugged a great opportunity."
Cast as stopper to the skid was an unlikely pitcher.
San Diego had defeated the Cardinals' top two pitchers in the previous two nights -- Jeff Suppan and ace Chris Carpenter -- to prolong the losing. Wednesday, the Cardinals turned to Reyes. In recent weeks, Reyes had been skipped, shelved, and scribbled on the lineup card as available from the bullpen. The brim of his cap ironed flat, his ringed stirrups up to minor league specs, the rookie righthander took the mound without his training wheels. Reyes was ready for his close-up.
Rarely dominant but never daunted, Reyes carried the Cardinals to a 1-1 tie through his six innings and 108 pitches. He pitched from behind in the count. He pitched with runners on base. He gave the Cardinals the kind of spark they needed to halt their history-tempting plummet in the standings.
"You can tell that he is still getting his feet wet in this league, but he's shown that he doesn't spook," La Russa said.
Said Wainwright, after getting the Cardinals' first save in 22 days, "He battled his butt off. He was in a lot of tough situations. He got out of a lot of tough situations. He battled and he got us into the seventh with a tie, which was big. He came up huge when we needed it most."
The first Padre that Reyes faced reached base and scored for San Diego's 1-0 lead. It took the rookie 30 pitches to get through the first inning. He had thrown 58 by the end of the third. Held at times to a strict 100-pitch count, Reyes had gotten through the sixth inning in just two of his previous 12 starts. This was eggshell territory, in the fourth inning.
Yet, he pitched on.
He got Todd Walker and Mike Piazza to pop up to end a fourth-inning threat. Striking out his sixth batter with his 100th pitch, Reyes had only one perfect inning, the sixth.
"The first inning just gave me an idea of what I had to work with," Reyes said. "It's just one of those days that I had to battle. I didn't really have anything working consistently. Just had to do the best I could with what I had."
His performance and the Cardinals' perch in the standings nearly were toppled by a wild pitch two innings after he left the game.
With runners at second and third and one out to get in the eighth, reliever Tyler Johnson (1-4) spiked a pitch way inside to pinch hitter Mark Bellhorn. Bellhorn hopped out of the way. Catcher Yadier Molina lunged to smother it. The ball ricocheted off Molina's shin guard and toward the Cardinals' dugout. Pinch runner Khalil Greene scored to break the tie, and the runner from second was thrown out at the plate.
That rested the game on the Cardinals' sputtering offense.
Unable to muster much against the Padres' Chris Young -- who remains unbeaten in 24 consecutive road starts -- the Cardinals just plain hadn't mustered much this month. Scott Rolen's game-tying, RBI single in the fourth inning broke a two-for-29 stretch for the third baseman. It was his first RBI since the start of the losing streak.
It was the Cardinals' first two-out RBI in four games.
Their next one came in triplicate.
Two walks by Padres setup reliever Scott Linebrink (7-4) put the go-ahead run on base in the eighth. Cla Meredith brought his team-best 0.72 ERA to the mound to face Pujols. The Cardinals' MVP pounced on the second pitch. Nineteen of his 47 homers have provided the game-winning run. He's hitting .398 with runners in scoring position, .454 this season with runners in scoring position and two outs.
"I just thank God for using me big time to come through for my team," Pujols said. "If they give me a good pitch to hit, I'll do damage."
Said La Russa: "When you're working on zero for a while it gets tougher and tougher to win. This was very important in a lot of ways."
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
09/28/2006
Trailing career highs and relieved sighs behind it, Albert Pujols' game-winning -- perhaps season-saving -- home run socked the upper deck in left field with drama.
Its impact goes far beyond where it landed.
With the Cardinals down by a run with two outs in the eighth inning and a first-place summer becoming a terrible fall, Pujols hammered a knee-high fastball for a three-run blast that halted the Cardinals' collapse. His career-high 47th home run traveled 425 feet, delivered his career-high 133rd RBI and, most important, meant a win.
A delicious, long-awaited win. Advertisement
Rookie Adam Wainwright finished what rookie Anthony Reyes started with a scoreless ninth inning for a 4-2 victory Wednesday at Busch Stadium. After six nights of anguished idling and second-place Houston wins, the Cardinals' magic number to clinch a division title dropped to four.
"We don't need to play the catch-up game here. Somebody needs to catch us," Pujols said. "It's always big. It's tough with a seven-game losing streak. But it stops here."
The Cardinals were on the verge of their third eight-game losing streak of the season, and this skid had taken them to the brink of disaster. The Houston Astros, who won in extra innings in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, had cut the Cardinals' lead from 8½ games to 1½ games in seven days.
In manager Tony La Russa's words before Wednesday's game, the Cardinals had "mugged a great opportunity."
Cast as stopper to the skid was an unlikely pitcher.
San Diego had defeated the Cardinals' top two pitchers in the previous two nights -- Jeff Suppan and ace Chris Carpenter -- to prolong the losing. Wednesday, the Cardinals turned to Reyes. In recent weeks, Reyes had been skipped, shelved, and scribbled on the lineup card as available from the bullpen. The brim of his cap ironed flat, his ringed stirrups up to minor league specs, the rookie righthander took the mound without his training wheels. Reyes was ready for his close-up.
Rarely dominant but never daunted, Reyes carried the Cardinals to a 1-1 tie through his six innings and 108 pitches. He pitched from behind in the count. He pitched with runners on base. He gave the Cardinals the kind of spark they needed to halt their history-tempting plummet in the standings.
"You can tell that he is still getting his feet wet in this league, but he's shown that he doesn't spook," La Russa said.
Said Wainwright, after getting the Cardinals' first save in 22 days, "He battled his butt off. He was in a lot of tough situations. He got out of a lot of tough situations. He battled and he got us into the seventh with a tie, which was big. He came up huge when we needed it most."
The first Padre that Reyes faced reached base and scored for San Diego's 1-0 lead. It took the rookie 30 pitches to get through the first inning. He had thrown 58 by the end of the third. Held at times to a strict 100-pitch count, Reyes had gotten through the sixth inning in just two of his previous 12 starts. This was eggshell territory, in the fourth inning.
Yet, he pitched on.
He got Todd Walker and Mike Piazza to pop up to end a fourth-inning threat. Striking out his sixth batter with his 100th pitch, Reyes had only one perfect inning, the sixth.
"The first inning just gave me an idea of what I had to work with," Reyes said. "It's just one of those days that I had to battle. I didn't really have anything working consistently. Just had to do the best I could with what I had."
His performance and the Cardinals' perch in the standings nearly were toppled by a wild pitch two innings after he left the game.
With runners at second and third and one out to get in the eighth, reliever Tyler Johnson (1-4) spiked a pitch way inside to pinch hitter Mark Bellhorn. Bellhorn hopped out of the way. Catcher Yadier Molina lunged to smother it. The ball ricocheted off Molina's shin guard and toward the Cardinals' dugout. Pinch runner Khalil Greene scored to break the tie, and the runner from second was thrown out at the plate.
That rested the game on the Cardinals' sputtering offense.
Unable to muster much against the Padres' Chris Young -- who remains unbeaten in 24 consecutive road starts -- the Cardinals just plain hadn't mustered much this month. Scott Rolen's game-tying, RBI single in the fourth inning broke a two-for-29 stretch for the third baseman. It was his first RBI since the start of the losing streak.
It was the Cardinals' first two-out RBI in four games.
Their next one came in triplicate.
Two walks by Padres setup reliever Scott Linebrink (7-4) put the go-ahead run on base in the eighth. Cla Meredith brought his team-best 0.72 ERA to the mound to face Pujols. The Cardinals' MVP pounced on the second pitch. Nineteen of his 47 homers have provided the game-winning run. He's hitting .398 with runners in scoring position, .454 this season with runners in scoring position and two outs.
"I just thank God for using me big time to come through for my team," Pujols said. "If they give me a good pitch to hit, I'll do damage."
Said La Russa: "When you're working on zero for a while it gets tougher and tougher to win. This was very important in a lot of ways."