CINCINNATI — It twice took five infielders and two outs at home plate in extra innings for the Cardinals to flaunt their stellar defense and give their offense opportunity after opportunity to do something, anything. It didn’t even have to be stellar, just substantive.
The Cardinals were hitless in 17 at-bats with a runner in scoring position when, in the 12th inning, Albert Pujols’ final swing in Cincinnati lofted a fly ball deep enough to score a runner from third base. Pujols’ sacrifice fly brought home Paul Goldschmidt and gave the Cardinals their first lead of a long, maddening night at the plate, except for when they were tagging out Reds there.
Lars Nootbaar gave the game one grin with a two-run homer that sent the Cardinals to a 5-3 victory against the Reds in the 12th inning at Great American Ball Park.
Andre Pallante dealt with the tying run on base in the bottom of the 12th before getting a strikeout and groundout to end the game. The extra-inning victory cinched the series for the Cardinals despite scoring only three runs for a 21-inning stretch against the last place Reds and their patchwork pitching staff. A two-run homer by Nolan Arenado in the fourth inning tied the game, and there it remained through 11 innings as neither team scored in extras, even with the benefit of a runner starting at second.
The Cardinals could not get past their at-bats.
Cincinnati could not get past their gloves.
The offense would have never had another chance in the 11th or 12th innings if not for golden infield defense, highlighted by each catcher making a tag at the plate.
With no outs in the 11th and two on base, the Cardinals crowded the infield to try and stymie the Reds from getting the one ball in play that would win the game.
The Cardinals brought rookie Nolan Gorman into the game as a fifth infielder behind right-hander Pallante. Any ball to the outfield was likely going to score the runner from third, so the Cardinals played the hops. Goldschmidt dutifully fielded a groundball for the first out. The second was close enough to require a replay.
Jake Fraley hit a hard grounder to shortstop, and Colin Moran broke from third. Tommy Edman threw home — but just wide enough for Molina to come away from the plate. It was the catcher’s turn to show off his spin rate. Molina pirouetted after catching the ball to meet Moran at the plate with a tag. Moran was ruled out, and the Reds’ replay challenge did not offer enough evidence to overturn home-plate umpire Dan Bellino’s initial call.
The inning ended with another test of the Cardinals’ defensive dexterity. With the bases loaded, former teammate Austin Romine hit a groundball that required Goldschmidt to range to his right. Pallante had to beat Romine to first for a sharp throw on the run for the third out.
In his final visit to Cincinnati, a place where he expected to be booed because he always had been, heartily, Molina did have a chance to upend the Reds one last time with his bat. The 11th inning found him at the plate with two teammates on base, two outs, and the go-ahead run at third base. Instead of boos, cheers rose from a crowd populated with Cardinals fans.
Molina struck out on three pitches to end the inning.
His fitting finale to his years in Cincinnati was the play at the plate where he dropped the game's pivotal tag.
JoJo Romero, who keyed a recasting of the Cardinals’ lefty relief in the past two weeks, appeared in his first highest-leverage appearance befitting of his new role.
But it wasn’t a pitch that got him through it.
With the go-ahead run on base, Romero entered the eighth inning to face left-handed batter T.J. Friedl, a pinch-hitter. It was the first time in four appearances with the Cardinals that Romero had entered a tie game, and he’s yet to appear in a save situation. Romero got ahead on Friedl, 0-2, and that’s when the baserunner didn’t like the look of being stranded at first. Stuart Fairchild broke for second. Romero, with help from two Pauls, Goldschmidt and DeJong, caught Fairchild stealing to end the inning.
The Cardinals responded in the top of the ninth with a runner in scoring position when the Reds whiffed on a tag at second base. Lars Nootbaar led off with a walk, and after Yadier Molina tried twice to drop a bunt, Nootbaar just stole second. The ball beat him to the bag, but second baseman Alejo Lopez lifted his glove enough for Nootbaar’s foot to get under it and reach the base.
The Cardinals had three chances at the base hit to score Nootbaar for the lead, and they hit a popup, a fly out, and a groundout to send the game into the bottom of the ninth. Romero was there to hold his part of the tie before closer Ryan Helsley finished the inning with two runners on base.
In a similar spot in the 10th inning, Helsley struck out noted Cardinals pest Colin Moran.
And Arenado makes it 50
The 2022 Cardinals already had the club record for most home runs in the month of August when Arenado leaned to try to keep his launch fair Wednesday night.
The third baseman’s game-tying homer in the fourth inning caromed back off the foul pole and put the month’s power surge into rare company. Arenado’s homer on the final day of August was the 50th of the month for the Cardinals. Only twice previously had the Cardinals had as many homers in a single month. In September 2021, as part of the 17-game winning streak, the Cardinals hit 52, and in April 2000 they opened the season with 55.
The Cardinals trailed 2-0 when Arenado connected on a full-count fastball in front of the plate. While still in his follow-through, Arenado tried to steer the ball fair with his shoulder. Arenado’s 28th home run came after Goldschmidt’s single and knotted the game, 2-2. Arenado also tied Goldschmidt for the major-league lead with nine homers in August.
Teammates Albert Pujols entered the evening second with eight, and with a final week surge Tyler O’Neill’s seven in August tied him for the fifth-most.
No starter thrives through five in Cincy
Jose Quintana’s departure in the middle of the fifth inning Wednesday meant not one of the three Cardinals starters in the series could complete enough innings to qualify for a win, let alone quality start.
All three starters who faced the Reds this week were lifted in the midst of the fifth inning with at least one runner on base. Quintana did the most with the few innings to minimize the scoring, but there he was in the fifth inning yielding the mound after a ball clipped him to become a single. Quintana allowed two runs on seven hits and walked one through his 4 2/3 innings. The two runs came in the third inning as the Reds stitched together three singles and a walk for some semblance of a rally.
Quintana slipped free of worse with a strikeout of No. 3 hitter Kyle Farmer.
The lefty’s abbreviated start came after Miles Mikolas pitched 4 1/3 innings Monday and Dakota Hudson threw 4 2/3 innings on Tuesday. Combined, the starters allowed 11 runs (all earned) on 22 hits in their 13 2/3 innings. Quintana was the only one of the three not to allow a home run. He coaxed two double plays to erase hitters after singles.
The relievers who came in to replace starters in the fifth inning – Chris Stratton, Jake Woodford, and, on Wednesday, Jordan Hicks – all stranded the runner they inherited.
Seventh swings around pinch-hit chance
Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol met Wednesday with outfielder Dylan Carlson to discuss how he makes the lineup each day and what has led to Carlson batting near the top against lefties and being on the bench against right-handers. Carlson, a switch-hitter, has struggled to a .210 average against right-handed pitching, and that has put him into a platoon.
Marmol wanted to stress to Carlson that he had not “lost faith” in the young center fielder’s ability to be an “everyday dude” for the Cardinals.
But performance has to inform decisions.
As it did in the seventh inning.
Tommy Edman’s one-out double got two runners into scoring position with Carlson’s spot in the order up. Against Reds lefty Mike Minor, Carlson had gone one-for-three with two groundouts and single. But Minor was gone. In his place stood a right-handed reliever (Art Warren) and another was about to enter (Buck Farmer). Marmol chose left-handed hitting Corey Dickerson to face Warren and then, after the Reds move, Farmer.
Dickerson entered the at-bat with a .374 average at Great American Ball Park in his career and 10 of his 34 home runs in Cincy have been homers. Left-handed hitters have done better against Farmer, .756 OPS to right-handed batter’s .578 OPS.
Dickerson struck out, and when Goldschmidt grounded out to end the inning the score remained tied. The Cardinals outfield shuffled accordingly. Tyler O’Neill replaced Carlson in center.
Molina snaps 0-for-22
The scoring opportunity in the seventh inning began with Molina’s single to center, ending a streak of 22 at-bats and 12 days without reaching base. The Cardinals began Wednesday’s series finale with Molina and shortstop Paul DeJong back-to-back in the lineup and both riding lengthy skids for a combined zero-for-36. Molina did not have a hit since three one night against Arizona and then leaving the next day to watch the pro basketball team he owns win a championship. That slump reached the seventh inning after he popped up in the third and grounded out to deep shortstop in the fourth with a runner in scoring position. Molina led off the seventh with a single that hoisted his batting average back to better than .200.
