Aug 3 (The Sports Xchange) - St Louis manager Mike Matheny
rolled the dice in the late innings of Sunday's 3-2 win over
Colorado, gambling that the Cardinals would win the game in nine
innings.
Pinch-hitter Brandon Moss' one-out RBI single in the bottom
of the ninth kept the Cardinals from having to play their 15th
extra-inning game of the year.
The fact the gamble paid off was a good thing because the
Cardinals would have been almost completely out of troops had
the game reached the 10th.
Beginning with the decision to pinch-hit starting catcher
Yadier Molina for backup Tony Cruz in the seventh, Matheny
burned through his bench fast.
Greg Garcia pinch-hit to begin the eighth and singled,
eventually reaching third on a wild pitch and flyout.
At that point, Matheny lifted Garcia for pinch-runner Peter
Bourjos, feeling his superior speed might make the difference in
breaking open a 2-2 game.
However, Bourjos ended up being wasted when Kolten Wong
rapped into an inning-ending 1-6-3 double play.
Matheny kept pushing his chips to the table in the ninth,
sending Moss up for Mark Reynolds as the Rockies had no lefties
warming up.
Had Moss made an out, though, Colorado could have
intentionally walked Molina and forced Matheny to hit closer
Trevor Rosenthal or send up .147-hitting Pete Kozma for the
pitcher.
Moss' grounder into left field made those possibilities
irrelevant but a different outcome in his at-bat might have
meant a different outcome for the game.
"I don't know if I've been around anyone who's been as happy
to put on a Cardinal uniform. We put him in a tough spot today,
and he delivered. He took what the pitcher gave him," Matheny
said of recent acquisition Moss.
(Editing by John O'Brien)