ST. LOUIS — Tyler O’Neill walked off the Cardinals’ ninth-inning win over the Atlanta Braves on Saturday night at Busch Stadium with the truest walk-off, a base on balls. On Sunday night, he flipped the script.
After Tommy Edman’s 425-foot leadoff homer off Atlanta left-hander A.J. Minter had tied the game in the eighth, O’Neill picked up both Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado, who had struck out with two runners on.
O’Neill did it by turning around a 97 mph fastball — same as Edman — except this one landed 423 feet away in the center-field greenery and provided a 6-3 victory. This second comeback win in two nights against the defending World Series gave the Cardinals the upper hand in the showdown three-game series.
O’Neill’s 10th homer followed a walk to Lars Nootbaar and an error on Brandon Donovan’s sacrifice bunt.
Adam Wainwright made the 200th start of his career at Busch Stadium III on Sunday but his quest to reach 200 career victories by the end of this season took a hit when Atlanta’s Dansby Swanson swatted a three-run homer in the seventh.
Wainwright did not allow this homer but closer Ryan Helsley, relieving with two on and two out in the seventh, did, failing to get a 100 mile an hour, down-the-middle fastball past Swanson, whose 17th homer of the season put the Braves ahead. Helsley, who fanned the side in the eighth, got credit for his ninth win.
It was/the 322nd time Wainwright and catcher Yadier Molina paired as a starting battery, just two off the major league record of 324 by Detroit’s Mickey Lolich and Bill Freehan.
But Wainwright’s career win total still stands at 193, with the right-hander having only seven or perhaps eight starts remaining.
Swanson had been nothing for 11 against Wainwright in his career but had hit a liner to short in his previous at-bat. But, after Wainwright’s 100th pitch had resulted in a forceout, leaving the Braves with runners at first and third with two outs, manager Oliver Marmol didn’t hesitate to make the move to his best pitcher in Helsley.
Wainwright, whose 41st birthday will be on Tuesday, never has had a no-hitter in his illustrious career but he was on the short end of one on June 1, 2012 when New York Mets left-hander Johan Santana pitched the most recent no-hitter against the Cardinals.
But, in Sunday’s rain-delayed outing, Wainwright, despite pitching shutout ball, found himself involved in another potential no-hitter as Metro-East high school Jake Odorizzi no-hit the Cardinals for the first 5 2/3 innings.
When the Cardinals’ batting order rolled over for the third time against the former Highland high righthander, the Cardinals ushered Odorizzi out of the game. Nootbaar’s opposite-field homer was the first hit off him and three consecutive singles, the last by Arenado, created a second run.
Wainwright still is errorless but errs
After striking out three Braves in the first two innings, throwing as hard as 92 miles an hour, Wainwright, who hasn’t been charged with an error all season, made a fielding mistake to start the third. Michael Harris II blooped a ball over the head of Wainwright, who retreated from the mound to try to make the catch but he couldn’t hold onto the ball, with nine-time Gold Glove third baseman Arenado ready to pounce on the first bounce.
Harris reached first on the infield single and took second on Robbie Grossman’s fly to deep center. But Wainwright induced a groundout on Swanson and got Matt Olson to fly to left.
Wainwright was making his major-league-high 18th start on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball which had the right-handed mic’d up during his pre-game warmups in the bullpen.
Odorizzi treats his fans
Former Highland, Illinois high school star Jake Odorizzi, whose first major-league plate appearance in 2014 was against Wainwright here and who was 2-0 at Busch, held the Cardinals hitless for the first five innings, allowing only a two-out walk to Dylan Carlson in the second. Odorizzi, a former first-round pick of the Milwaukee Brewers, required just 66 pitches to get through five innings of the game which began 59 minutes late because of a rain storm and lightning.
Ten of those pitches were to Nolan Gorman, who finally struck out to end the fifth.
It was still Braves 0, Cardenales 0 on Fiesta Cardenales night as the Cardinals were wearing “Cardenales” on the front of their special jerseys.
Nootbaar sparks two-run sixth
But after Odorizzi had retired the first two men in the sixth, Nootbaar, a left-handed hitter, lofted a fly ball to the opposite field in left, the ball barely clearing the wall and then bouncing off a cheek of a photographer as the Cardinals recorded their first hit and run.
After Nootbaar hit his ninth homer at a modest distance of 355 feet, Donovan extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a two-out single to left. Goldschmidt also singled to left, as did Nolan Arenado, whose single made it 2-0 and forced Odorizzi out of the game.
Left-hander Dylan Lee relieved and Marmol, much to the delight of the big crowd, countered with Albert Pujols, who was trying to make Lee his record 450th home-run victim. But Pujols popped up to end the inning.
Edman flashes leather
Reigning Gold Glove second baseman Edman, now the Cardinals’ shortstop, saved Wainwright in the fourth. With Austin Riley on with a leadoff single, William Contreras hit a one-out smash to the right of Edman, who made a diving grab.
Eddie Rosario, the next hitter, also singled, which would have scored the game’s first run, before Wainwright escaped damage by knocking down Vaughn Grissom’s comebacker and throwing out the rookie to end the inning.
The Braves stranded four runners in the first four innings.
They didn’t strand anybody in the fifth because Edman speared Swanson’s liner and fired to first to double off Harris II, who had singled for the second time.
