Thursday’s Game Report: Cardinals 10, Reds 9
By Rob Rains
All Dane Myers had to do was catch the fly ball hit by JJ Wetherholt with two outs in the ninth inning and the Reds could have walked off the field with a win over the Cardinals on Thursday in Cincinnati.
Instead, with his sunglasses on the top of his head, Myers dropped the ball and the Cardinals took advantage of the gift, going on to score six runs.
They needed every one of them as the bullpen gave four of those runs right back to the Reds in the bottom of the inning before Riley O’Brien finally got the final out, stranding the potential tying and winning runs on base.
The wild ninth inning came after the Cardinals saw a 4-0 lead evaporate in the sixth inning when a grand slam by Matt McLain off Ryne Stanek flipped the game in favor of the Reds.
In the ninth, the Cardinals got a leadoff pinch-hit single from Jose Fermin and Bryan Torres was hit by a pitch before the next two batters were retired. With the Reds still leading by a run, Wetherholt was down to his final strike before hitting the fly ball to center which Myers called for, then saw hit off his glove.
Two runs scored on the two-base error to put the Cardinals in front and they went on to score four more runs, two coming on Fermin’s second pinch-hit single in the inning.
The win marked the first time the Cardinals had scored six runs in the ninth inning of a game they were losing since July 28, 2002. They were losing to the Cubs 9-4 at home before scoring six runs, winning the game on a three-run walkoff homer by Edgar Renteria.
It also was only the third time the Cardinals won a game in which they allowed nine or more runs since September 2019. They had been 2-98 in those games since, with the wins a 12-9 victory over the Yankees in 2022 and a 12-10 victory over the Royals earlier this year.
Here is how Thursday’s game broke down:
At the plate: The Cardinals built their early lead on a four-RBI day from Jordan Walker. He drove in a run on a groundout in the first inning, then hit a three-run homer in the third, his 26th of the season. The four RBIs increased Walker’s season total to 94, three behind Sal Stewart of the Reds for the league lead and one ahead of Alec Burleson, who had one in this game, with a ninth-inning single … The other RBI in the ninth came on a bases-loaded walk to Joshua Baez … The Cardinals had been held to five hits before the ninth-inning rally.
On the mound: Michael McGreevy shut out the Reds through the first five innings before getting into trouble in the sixth. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases with one out before he was pulled from the game. Stanek relieved and allowed an RBI single before serving up the grand slam to McLain with two outs … Leading 10-5 going to the bottom of the ninth, George Soriano walked two of the first three batters he faced, then gave up an RBI single and issuing another walk that loaded the bases … O’Brien was greeted with a two-run single by Stewart, then walked two batters, forcing in another run, before retiring McLain on a line drive to right.
Key stat: The 26th home run for Walker came in his 486th at-bat of the season. Coming into this season he had hit 27 homers in his career in 947 at-bats.
Worth noting: Fermin’s two pinch-hits in the ninth inning marked the first time a Cardinal had two pinch-hits in an inning since Allen Craig did it on July 21, 2012 in a 12-run seventh inning against the Cubs … Fermin now has 14 hits in the ninth inning this season, the most on the team. Burleson is second on the team with nine.
Up next: The 11-game road trip continues on Friday night with the first of three games against the Phillies in Philadelphia The Cardinals have not announced a starting pitcher for the game.
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