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St. Louis casted on the winning side of a storybook ending
It all came down to one night and St. Louis could’ve been moving onto a one game playoff. They could’ve been booking flights for the next day, perhaps to a vacation destination of their choice. They could’ve seen the last of Tony LaRussa or even Albert Pujols. However, the baseball gods casted the Cardinals on the winning side of a historical, memorable night of baseball with an 8-0 win over the Houston Astros.
Despite their Wildcard race taking a backseat to the American League one, the Cardinals were still a part of some great history. With the series tied, Chris Carpenter who’s pitched plenty of big games for St. Louis, reached back and gave the team a two hit shutout. He also got plenty of support with the offense hitting their way through a first run inning. In the end, the Cardinals finished their end of the bargain as they guaranteed at least a play in game against the Braves.
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A lot of people who’ve been around the game will tell you that one of the greatest spots to be in is what St. Louis experienced right after that victory. Imagine trailing a playoff spot heading into September by eight and a half games. You come all the way back tied on the last day knowing that you could go home, but you win on that last day with the other team still playing. If you’re St. Louis, at that point you have nothing to lose. All the pressure is on Atlanta. However, nobody knows this except Atlanta and its fans. Then watching on a television in the St. Louis clubhouse, Freddie Freeman bounces into a double play ending the second collapse of the historic night.
St. Louis wildly celebrated in the clubhouse shortly after. It was their first champagne celebration since 2009’s NL Central win but this one was extra special. Back at the end of August, the Brewers and their energetic clubhouse almost put the nail in the coffin on St. Louis sealing their greatest season since probably 1982. The Atlanta Braves seemed destined to capture the Wild Card with their devastating bullpen. Then 18 September losses later, the Braves’ Achilles heel did them in, which was their offense paving the way for the Cardinals who never gave up. The Cardinals fought back with new heroes each night including contributions from the trades that John Mozeliak made back in July. Finally when you look at Wednesday night’s box score, who are you going to pick out as a hero? The five run first inning was a lineup that basically hit around. That’s kind of sums up this team throughout the run though. There wasn’t that one guy who had a scorching September. They accomplished this as a team.
By: Jeffrey Vermillion
MLBCenter.com St. Louis Cardinals Correspondent
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