Tuesday’s Game Report: Cardinals 9, Giants 8
By Rob Rains
Down by five runs going to the seventh inning on Tuesday night, the Cardinals knew they had to win to keep even their slim postseason hopes alive.
They did just that, rallying for four runs in the seventh and two in the ninth to complete the comeback from the 8-3 deficit and defeat the Giants in San Francisco.
The rally began when Ivan Herrera hit a three-run homer, his third consecutive game with a homer, and Nolan Arenado also homered in the seven to pull the Cardinals within one run.
In the ninth, Victor Scott led off with a single and Brendan Donovan followed with his fourth double of the game to score Scott with the tying run. Alec Burleson came through with a one-out single that scored pinch-runner Jose Fermin with the go-ahead run.
Because of the Mets’ win on Tuesday night, the Cardinals would have been eliminated from the race for the third wild-card spot with a loss. They have four games left in the season, and trail the Mets by 3 ½ games. They also trail both the Reds and Diamondbacks, who are both one game behind the Mets.
Here’s how Tuesday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: After scoring three runs in the first inning, the Cardinals were held to just three more hits until the seventh. Jordan Walker led off the inning with a double before Scott walked and Herrera hit his 19th homer of the season, his eighth in September. With two outs, Arenado hit his first home run since June 21 … The ninth-inning rally marked only the third time this season they won a game they were losing after eight innings. Two of those wins have come against the Giants.
On the mound: The Giants scored five runs in the third inning, all charged to starter Andre Pallante, who was knocked out of the game after 2 2/3 innings. Three of the runs were unearned because of a throwing error by Arenado … Jorge Alcala gave up two runs in the fifth and Chris Roycroft allowed a home run in the sixth that increased the Giants lead to 8-3 … Matt Svanson retired the side in order in the eighth and in the ninth, JoJo Romero allowed a one-out double before striking out Matt Chapman. Riley O’Brien came in to get the final out, striking out Wilmer Flores.
Key stat: Donovan, who was not in the original lineup, became only the third Cardinal to hit four doubles in a game. The others were Joe Medwick in 1937 and Matt Carpenter in 2018.
Worth noting: The Double A Springfield Cardinals pulled off their own comeback on Tuesday night, rallying from a 3-0 deficit to defeat Midland 4-3, extending the Texas League championship series to a deciding third game on Wednesday night … The league’s regular-season awards were announced on Tuesday. JJ Wetherholt was named the MVP, Ivan Henderson the pitcher of the year and Patrick Anderson the manager of the year.
Up next: Sonny Gray will make his final start of the season on Wednesday night as the Cardinals try to complete a sweep of the three-game series.
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