Sunday’s Game Report: Cardinals 4, Giants 3
By Rob Rains
One of the oldest adages in baseball is that a walk is as good as a hit, and even though that isn’t always the case, it was on Sunday for the Cardinals.
Locked in a scoreless game in the fifth inning, the Cardinals loaded the bases on three consecutive walks before two hits and another walk, still with the bases loaded, helped produce four runs that provided just a big enough margin for a win over the Giants.
Lars Nootbaar and Ivan Herrera singled after the parade of walks, in front of the fourth walk of the inning, to Nolan Gorman, before the final run of the inning scored on Masyn Winn’s double-play grounder.
The Giants took advantage of back-to-back walks from Sonny Gray, plus a third walk later in the inning, to score three times in the sixth but Matt Svanson stranded the bases loaded and the Cardinals were able to hang onto the one-run lead over the final three innings.
The win pulled the Cardinals back to the .500 mark for the season at 72-72, the first time they have reached that level since Aug. 13. There are 18 games left in the regular season.
Here is how Sunday’s game broke down:
At the plate: Of their first 18 batters in the game, only five Cardinals put the ball in play against Kai-Wei Teng, who allowed two hits, struck out eight and walked five before Nootbaar’s broken-bat single in the sixth knocked him out of the game … The Cardinals failed to add to their lead over their final three at-bats despite getting four hits, stranding all four runners. They were 2-of-11 with a runner in scoring position … Herrera and Nathan Church each had two hits to account for half of the team’s total of eight hits.
On the mound: Gray did not allow a hit through the first five innings, his perfect game marred by a two-out walk to Willy Adames in the fourth … Following the back-to-back walks to open the sixth, Rafael Devers singled with one out. Adames walked and Dominic Smith singled to knock Gray out of the game … Gray’s four walks were his most in a game this season … Svanson gave up an RBI single on his first pitch, but then got a strikeout and a fly out to end the inning … A sliding catch in right by Church helped keep the Giants from mounting a rally in the ninth, taking a hit away from Drew Gilbert after Casey Schmitt led off the ninth with a single off Riley O’Brien.
Key stat: The Cardinals played their 15th consecutive game without a stolen base. It’s their longest streak without a stolen base since a 19-game streak in 2013. They have been thrown out in five steal attempts since their last stolen base on Aug. 21 at Tampa Bay.
Worth noting: Alec Burleson is expected to be activated off the injured list on Monday. He has been sidelined since Aug. 28 because of inflammation in his right wrist … Both Brendan Donovan (toe and groin) and Nolan Arenado (shoulder) could begin rehab assignments in the minor leagues by the middle of the week.
Up next: The Cardinals begin their next-to-last road trip of the season Monday night with the first of three games against the Mariners in Seattle. Miles Mikolas is the scheduled starter. They will also play three games in Milwaukee next weekend.
