These 5 moments fueled the St. Louis Cardinals’ improbable run to the MLB postseason
Over the course of a franchise-record 17-game winning streak that changed the fate of the St. Louis Cardinals season, observers were bound to see more than a few things which stood out as memorable moments. The streak itself, of course, will live in franchise lore, but the individual moments of which it was composed ranged from the predictable to the unprecedented.
These five moments summarize not only the drama of St. Louis’s September, but also serve to highlight the strengths which came fully to light over the course of the run that plotted a course to the postseason.
5. Nootcaatch
Mark W. Sanchez of the New York Post wrote that Lars Nootbaar’s full extension catch at the wall against New York’s Pete Alonso could have been “a final dagger into the Mets season.” Having already won the first two games of a three game set, the Cardinals came storming out in game three Sept. 15, the fifth game of the streak.
They put up five runs in the first inning against Mets starter Tylor Megill, but a homer by Pete Alonso in the bottom of the second seemed to spark something. Sensing their backs against the wall, and with two on and two out in the bottom of the seventh, Alonso lofted a fly ball to right against TJ McFarland with plenty of distance to cut the lead from 8-4 to 8-7 and give the Mets the momentum with two innings to play.
Nootbaar, who had been double switched into the game just three batters earlier, got his own back against the literal wall, timed his leap, and brought in Alonso’s drive with his arm fully extended, his elbow against the top of the fence. The Mets wouldn’t threaten again, the Cardinals were off like a rocket, and Nootbaar’s representatives would the next day file paperwork claiming trademark over “Nootbaars,” potentially coming soon to a store near you.
4. Besting the Brewers
Game 12 of the streak was a getaway day in Milwaukee on Sept. 23. The Cardinals by this point had already taken hold of the second wild card and a clinch felt like a formality. With a bus ride to Chicago in their immediate futures and a weekend series with the Cubs ahead — not to mention a doubleheader the next day — that Thursday had all the makings of a trap game.
It started that way. Milwaukee got to Adam Wainwright for five runs in four innings, one of only three times this season the declared Wild Card Game starter failed to finish five. When Yadier Molina struck out to lead off the top of the seventh against Jake Cousins, the Brewers held a 96% win expectancy with only eight outs to secure.
Then small ball happened. Edmundo Sosa singled, and both Harrison Bader and Nootbaar walked to load the bases for Tommy Edman. His grounder to second could have been a double play ball which ended the inning, but he beat the back end by about half a step to score a run and leave two on for Paul Goldschmidt. Milwaukee’s Brad Boxberger threw away an unnecessary pickoff attempt to score Bader, followed by what would turn out to be the first of two homers by Goldschmidt in the late innings.
The winning runs would score in the eighth on a walk, a single, a passed ball, and a sacrifice fly. It was the platonic ideal of the Cardinals offense when it clicks on all cylinders.
3. Double Play, Part One
The Mets were as much as 83% likely in the bottom of the 10th inning to win the second game between the two teams at Citi Field. Kevin Pillar, the tiebreaker runner, advanced to third on a ground out, and after a walk to Jonathan Villar, the Mets’ $300 million man, Francisco Lindor, stepped to the plate needing only a fly ball to the outfield to win the game.
Instead, Alex Reyes induced Lindor to chop the ball to Goldschmidt at first. Pillar, who didn’t quite break on contact, was caught in between as Goldschmidt fired home after touching first base for the first out. Molina chased Pillar back toward third and flipped to Nolan Arenado for the tag in what was the most dramatic double play of the season.
Up until that point, anyway.
2. The Clincher
Any team will tell you that the ultimate goal of a regular season is to reach the playoffs, and they’ll take it however it comes. Still, dig a little deeper, and you may get an admission it feels just the slightest bit sweeter to clinch at home, in front of their fans, with a victory of their own.
The Cardinals could have clinched a playoff berth as early as last Sunday with a convoluted collection of other results, but did not do so until Tuesday at Busch Stadium. The 17th game of the streak was ultimately the last, but it ended in a champagne celebration as St. Louis mathematically secured the second wild card. The Brewers yet again were staked to a lead against Wainwright, but a Dylan Carlson home run and perfect squeeze bunt by Wainwright himself tied the game.
Tyler O’Neill’s single to right field was booted by Avisaíl García, scoring Goldschmidt and moving O’Neill up to third where he would be brought home by an Arenado sacrifice fly to give the Cardinals an insurmountable lead.
O’Neill hit .324 with seven home runs and 21 RBI during the streak and could arguably have deserved an entry all his own.
1. Double Play, Part Two
The note of disbelief in play-by-play broadcaster Dan McLaughlin’s voice as he called out, “Bader is in it!” during a wild double play Sept. 25 — Game 15 of the streak — perhaps best sums up the experience of watching it up close. The so-called “phone number double play” — scored 3-2-5-4-2-8-6 — was also a neat metaphor for the seasons of the two teams involved.
The Cubs, wandering aimlessly away from the bases, seemed lost, caught in between, represented by David Bote and a cast of anonymous replacements. The Cardinals, seeming to meander early, instead had a precise end goal, and executed the previously unseen better than could reasonably have been anticipated.
It’s a defensive play which will make the rounds on highlight films for years to come (how often do you see a centerfielder involved in a rundown at second base?) and which provided a crescendo to three wild weeks which brought the Redbirds from irrelevance to contention.
This story was originally published October 2, 2021 at 7:00 AM.
