It may have been the win of the year for the Cardinals last night.
It was certainly an inauspicious start, as starter Jake Woodford ran into trouble in the first, which resulted in the Mets scoring two runs. And to make matters worse, Mets ace Marcus Stroman was locked in.
The Cards chipped away in the fourth, tying the game at two. But the tie would not last, as Daniel Ponce de Leon walked three straight after retiring Mets catcher Tomas Nido on a groundout. Ponce de Leon was pulled and replaced by Kodi Whitley, but a run scored on Michael Conforto’s sacrifice fly, which put the Mets back ahead.
During the commercial break, the Bally Sports Midwest cameras caught an altercation between Ponce de Leon and catcher Yadier Molina.
As the two exchanged words, teammates and coaches had to pull the two apart from each other, though it never reached a boiling point.
“You know, things happen. Heat of the moment, nothing big at all. Brotherly love,” said manager Mike Shildt. “Things occasionally happen. Cameras catch every little thing. I’m not going to make a mountain out of a mohill because it was not that big of a deal.”
St. Louis rallied late to take the lead on Tyler O’Neill’s two-run homer. That gave them their first lead of the night.
That slim lead slipped away however, as Javier Baez took Giovanny Gallegos deep to tie the game at 4 in the ninth. And in the bottom of the tenth, things started to look bleak for the Cards, as the Mets put the winning run at third with just one out.
With runners at the corners, Alex Reyes, who seems to have regained his form induced a ground ball to first from Francisco Lindor. Paul Goldschmidt stepped on the first base bag for the out, but instead of going to second for a potential force play, Goldschmidt decided to throw home, as he saw Kevin Pillar, the runner at third, breaking for the plate.
Goldschmidt threw a strike to the plate to put Pillar in a rundown. Yadier Molina, the famed Met killer, then threw to third and Pillar was tagged out for a double play.
“That was a fantastic play,” said Shildt. “It was a game-saver.”
The Cardinals then went right back to work in the 11th off of Mets reliever Jake Reed. Jose Rondon, fresh into the game, kick-started a rally with a base-hit. Edmundo Sosa followed with a hit of his own to put the Cards’ back ahead, 5-4.
Andrew Knizner followed with a two-run single to give St. Louis a little insurance.
With a 7-4 lead, on came lefty Kwang-Hyun Kim to try and close it out. Kim retired Michael Conforto on a pop-up to left for the first out, but the Mets refused to go quietly.
Pete Alonso doubled to make it a 7-5 game. And after Kim got Jeff McNeil to ground into a force out, things would get even more dramatic.
Kim got Pillar to hit a grounder back to him, which should’ve ended the game. But Kim’s throw to first was wide and Pillar reached, which also allowed Alonso to score and make it 7-6.
This time, St. Louis would hold the lead. Pinch-hitter Albert Almora grounded one to Tommy Edman, who threw to first to get the final out and preserve a wild win for the Cards.
“Every win down the stretch is big for us,” said Andrew Knizner. “That’s a hard fought game. Everybody contributed.”
And it certainly was a big win. Elsewhere, but the Reds and Padres lost their respective games, which allowed the Cardinals to take sole possession of the second Wild Card spot in the National League. They’ve now won four straight and six of their last seven.
“Right now, we’re taking it day to day,” said Edmundo Sosa. “Every time, we try to focus on that day’s game where everyone is on the same ship, pulling in the same direction. So it’s pretty nice how everything is turning out. We’re looking forward to continuing down that stretch.”
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