Albert Pujols had to haunt the Reds one last time.
In his last at bat in Cincinnati, Pujols hit a 13th inning sacrifice fly to score Paul Goldschmidt with the winning run as the St. Louis Cardinals prevail, 5-3.
Lars Noobaar hit his 10th home run off Chase Anderson with a man on to provide the final margin.
Anderson started and lost the first game of the series and was charged with both losses as the Cardinals took two out of three games.
Moran was the ghost runner in the 11th. TJ Friedl had an infield single that sent Moran as the winning run to third. Jose Barrero grounded out to Paul Goldschmidt at first with Friedl going to second. Jake Fraley hit a sharp ground ball to the infield.
Reiver Sanmartin pitched out of two innings stranding the "ghost" runner who started his innings on second base.
"There were so many great pitching performances that I can't even remember but Reiver stepped up," David Bell said.
The Reds faced a team with two Hall of Fame players in the St. Louis Cardinals lineup.
Yadier Molina and Albert Pujols were honored before the game. It will be their last appearance in Cincinnati. Both announced their retirement after the season.
In their last appearance at GABP, Molina had a single in five at bats, striking out in the 10th inning. Pujols was 0-for-5. He flew out to right to advance the ghost runner to third in the 10th. But managed to drive in a run in his last at bat.
The Reds broke into the lead against Cardinal starter Jose Quintana in the third inning. Aristides Aquino opened the frame with a single to left. Jose Barrero drew a rare walk. Jonathan India's RBI single extended his hitting streak to 14 games. Nick Senzel knocked in another run with a single.
Veterans Reds' starter Mike Minor threw three scoreless innings but the Cardinals tied the score with Triple Crown chasing Paul Goldschmidt's single and Nolan Arenado's 28th home run.
The Reds had 10 singles into the seventh inning but the Cardinals' defense turned two double plays to squash rallies.
Buck Farmer dug the Reds out of a hole in the top of the seventh. Molina singled but was forced at second by Brendan Donovan. Tommy Edman's double put runners on second and third with one out against Art Warren. Farmer came in to the mess and struck out pinch hitter Corey Dickerson and got the MVP candidate Goldschmidt to ground out to shortstop, Jose Barrero.
The Reds had 14 hits, all singles and stranded 19 base runners, including leaving the bases loaded in the 11th and 12th innings.
Twice in extra innings the Reds had the winning runs thrown out at home plate on ground balls to the infield as the Cardinals placed five men in the infield leaving two outfielders.
"It was unbelievable," Bell said. "The Cardinals are a great team and our team did every thing we could to win that game. It was tough but it was a great game to be a part of. It is a reminder of what a great game it is. I feel our team deserved to win but of course the Cardinals did too."
No comments:
Post a Comment