Oh What a Night!

All the baseball world knew what was at stake. Already down 1 game against the mighty Phillies, and with Chris Carpenter pitching on short rest for the first time in his career, it was win or go home. A 2 game deficit in a 5 game series is almost insurmountable; especially to a team with a pitching staff as deep as Philadelphia’s. Since the Division Series round was added to the MLB playoffs in 1995, 39 of those series have started out with one team up 2 games to 0. Only 3 of those series ended up with a complete comeback by the trailing team. 93% of the teams with a 2-0 lead went on to win the series.

So there it was. That was the math facing the Cardinals. Tony LaRussa knew it was long odds but rolled the dice on Carpenter. It didn’t go well. The daunting task of stealing a game in Philly became even more of a long shot after Philadelphia’s lineup strafed Carpenter for 4 quick runs in the first 3 innings. The Cardinals were in a deep hole, facing Phillies’ ace Cliff Lee and trailing by 4. LaRussa had to pinch hit for Carpenter in the 4th and thus began the inevitable bullpen carousel that he is famous for.


Remarkably, the bullpen held, and the Cardinals came all the way back to win an exhilarating game 5-4. It was game of raw emotion in the Rowe Man-Cave and all throughout Cardinal Nation, as each improbable moment unfolded, and the Cardinals evened the series 1-1. Here are the quick hits and emotional bullet points of the night . . .

• The Cardinals got 12 hits off of Cliff Lee. Whodathunkit?
• That was a crazy strike zone. Nobody was happy.
• The three runs St. Louis scored in the top of the fourth were huge to turn the game around. And even though Jon Jay was thrown out at home to end the inning, the Redbirds were back in it at 4-3.
• And Jon Jay is a stud. I don’t remember the guy who played center field before he came along. Thank you Toronto for taking old what’s-his-name off our hands.
• The Cardinal bullpen took over and pitched 6 innings and gave up 1 hit, striking out 6 and walking no one. Wow!
• Fernando Salas calmly retired all six he faced, including strikeouts of Chase Utley and Hunter Pence in the 5th inning. I love his demeanor on the mound.
• Octavio Dotel breezed through all four batters he faced. And then LaRussa decided it was time for Scrabble (Mark Rzepczynski). I was screaming at the television for Dotel to stay in.
• Scrabble’s biggest moment was picking Jimmy Rollins off first base to end the 7th. And that set up Tony’s-Delight on the menu for the 8th inning . . . With Utley, Pence and Ryan Howard coming up, I had the feeling it was going to be a 4 pitcher inning. As expected, Scrabble was followed by Mitchell Boggs who was on call to pitch to Pence. And then of course, the ancient one Arthur Rhodes was summoned to face Ryan Howard. The 75 year old Rhodes struck out Ryan Freakin’ Howard. That was a moment to treasure!
• And I knew before the inning was over, Jason Motte was going to be called upon for a multi inning save.
• The Cardinals rode a new young closer named Adam Wainwright to a championship in 2006. Motte has that look about him this year.
• Jake Westbrook was the sole survivor in the Cardinals bullpen. If the game went to extra innings, he was going to be a busy man for a long, long time.
• On offense, Rafael Furcal, Albert Pujols, Ryan Theriot, and Jay all had multi-hit games.
• Every Cardinals regular had at least one hit.
• Skip Schumaker slid into first. Again. And for once, he was safe.
• When the Cardinals needed the heart of the order to tilt the game their way in the 7th, Allen Craig led off with a towering triple and Pujols laced a single to left to drive in the lead run. Lance Berkman followed with a flared single to chase Lee.
• The Phillies are not about to fold, but this game had to dent their invincible armor a little.
• St. Louis knows that if it can hold serve with at least one win at home, they’ll have a rested and determined Carpenter ready for game 5.
• We can all smile and enjoy Monday’s ‘travel’ day. Happy Flight! Happy Flight!