Yadier Molina, Joe Kelly, and One Wild Night
By James Benoit
There are few words to describe what transpired last night at Marlins Park in Miami. It looked as though the Miami Marlins had this one in the bag, but the St. Louis Cardinals had something quite different in mind. Read on to find out how what came to pass last night was far more than another tally in the win column.
In what looked like a game where the Redbirds were reverting back to their recent lack of offense, the St. Louis Cardinals sprung quite the surprise on the unsuspecting Miami Marlins last night. Jake Westbrook threw just 74 pitches last night, and went 6 solid innings, allowing just 6 hits and 2 runs. Ricky Nolasco, whose struggles of late are well-documented, pitched quite well – going 6 2/3 with 4 hits allowed, 1 unearned run, and 4 Ks. After the starters departed, that’s where it got interesting in a hurry.
Let’s pick it up in top of the 7th inning. I know that I like when people take a look behind the box score, and flesh out what really came to pass, so here’s my attempt to do just that:
With the bases loaded, Randy Choate threw an 88 mph pitch. Nothing noteworthy about that normally, except for the fact that on this particular pitch, the ball scooted away from Miami Marlins Catcher John Buck, allowing David Freese to score from third. It was the Cardinals first run of the night, and brought them to within 2-1. The inning still looked promising, as Shane Robinson faced a 3-2 count, with 2 down and runners on 2nd and 3rd, but the Cardinals couldn’t bring any more men around to score. By the end of the top half of the inning, the score sat at 2-1 – pretty promising for a Cardinals comeback, right?
Not so fast. We have to factor in the relievers before we get ahead of ourselves here. Let’s go bottom 7. Enter Fernando Salas, the hard throwing righty from Mexico. Last year’s 24 save season with an impressive 2.28 ERA behind him, he’s been unimpressive to say the least so far this season. Salas came in, and, continuing his run of poor performances, he walked 1, allowed a hit, and was on the hook for 2 men as he gave way to Eduardo Sanchez, who was even worse. Sanchez couldn’t seem to find the plate, as he allowed 3 walks, and didn’t record an out – walking home 2 men. The relief woes continued as Marc Rzepczynski entered and gave up a hit, finally retiring two batters to end the miserable inning. In total, the Miami Marlins scored 4 runs in their half of the frame. To be quite honest, I was thankful it wasn’t more than that. End of 7 – Miami Marlins 6 St. Louis Cardinals 1 – not so promising anymore. Cardinal Nation had to be fuming at what they witnessed in such a short span of time.
The 8th inning brought another run for the Cardinals, as two errors allowed Carlos Beltran to score the second run for the Redbirds. Hanley Ramirez struggled fielding, booting the ball, and then attempting from one knee to throw out Yadier Molina at 2nd. The ball was way offline and trickled into right, giving Ramirez both a fielding and throwing error, on a play that could and should have been an inning-ending double play.
Nothing doing for the Marlins in the 8th, as Sam Freeman replaced Marc Rzepczynski and quickly disposed of Scott Cousins, John Buck, and Justin Ruggiano. By inning’s end, the score was 6-2. Still not so promising for a comeback, right? Again, not so fast. You can’t sleep on these Redbirds!
Heath Bell, the Miami Marlins closer, whom the St. Louis Cardinals have toyed with over the years, came in. His last few outings being as successful as they were, I wasn’t too convinced that history would repeat itself. Boy, was I wrong! Rafael Furcal walked, Shane Robinson Kd, and then Matt Holliday hit his 17th double towards center, sending Furcal to 3rd. Runners at 1st and 2nd, 1 out. Carlos Beltran then entered, and singled towards right, scoring Furcal, and sending Holliday to 3rd, 6-3 Marlins still in front.
Allen Craig stepped to the dish, and hit a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Holliday. 2 out, Marlins still in front 6-4.
The tension was building as Yadier Molina stepped to the plate. Molina did what Molina does – he was clutch. He drove a 2-0 94 mph fastball, into the Miami Marlins bullpen, tying the game at 6. It was the 11th bomb of the season for the underrated St. Louis Cardinal backstop. Freese then grounded out to end the 9th, but Cardinal Nation was rejoicing at the chance to put another W in the win column.
The bottom of the 9th provided some significant drama, as Sam Freeman struck out Jose Reyes, giving way to Victor Marte. Because of lineup confusion, mostly on the part of the umpires, Daniel Descalso was moved to third, removing David Freese from the game. Tyler Greene served as Sam Freeman’s replacement, batting 9th. Tony Cruz was then sent in as Freese’s replacement, playing first, batting 7th. If that all seems confusing to you, it was just as confusing to me. Basically, the long and the short of it was this: two of the Cardinals best bats were taken out of the lineup – David Freese & Allen Craig – before the Cardinals had a chance to bat again. Marte then allowed a single to Hanley Ramirez, a walk to Giancarlo Stanton, and finally got Gaby Sanchez to ground into a double play, ending the very dramatic inning. 6-6, all tied up and headed to extras.
In the top of the 10th, the St. Louis Cardinals faced well-traveled Chad Gaudin. Daniel Descalso popped out to Jose Reyes, 1 out. Tyler Greene then singled to left, and Rafael Furcal stepped in. Furcal hit his 12th double on a sharp grounder towards left, and Greene scooted home – the Cardinals first lead of the game at 7-6. But they weren’t done yet. Joe Kelly still had to have the last laugh!
Shane Robinson grounded out to Gaudin, who threw to Greg Dobbs for the 2nd out. Matt Holliday was then hit, Carlos Beltran was inexplicably intentionally walked, and Furcal stood 90 feet from home. In came Joe Kelly to replace Victor Marte as a pinch hitter.
The unlikeliest of heroes, Joe Kelly would step to the plate and deliver a soft grounder to Jose Reyes, who couldn’t make the throw in time. Kelly had his first hit, and the Cardinals added an insurance run. Yadi struck out swinging to end the frame, but not before the scoreboard said 8-6, good guys.
Jason Motte was brought in to close out the game and promptly disposed of Greg Dobbs, striking him out. Omar Infante doubled, and Scott Cousins was Motte’s 2nd strikeout victim. John Buck then singled, scoring Infante. That insurance run sure looked pretty good at that point. Thank you, Mr. Kelly! Justin Ruggiano walked, and pinch runner Brett Hayes moved to 2nd. In stepped Jose Reyes and my heart was pounding. The man who had the ability to tie it certainly was no one to sneeze at. However, Jose Reyes flew out to Shane Robinson in center, and the St. Louis Cardinals had one of their most improbable comebacks in recent memory.
Things to note: Yadier Molina threw out yet another, catching Scott Cousins on a beautiful throw in the 5th. How he could be left out of the All-Star Game as a starter would be beyond me, and a complete travesty if that were to happen. Bob Davidson gave an apology to Mike Matheny for his confusion over the “#5” in the 9th inning. The confusion seemed to stem from the difference between the #5 batter, and David Freese, who was playing the #5 spot (3rd base). It could have been a problem, but thankfullly, crisis averted – it didn’t cost the Redbirds their comeback or a W. Mike Matheny will certainly learn from that mistake, as he came away from the situation looking a bit silly.
I still have a difficult time believing what I saw last night, but my hero is Joe Kelly, for delivering a clutch hit and running his heart out – he made sure he wouldn’t be denied! Thank you St. Louis Cardinals for this recent run and the magic that you brought to baseball last night.