Lefty specialist Randy Choate threw a Giants’ bunt past Kolten Wong, down the line into the Cardinal bullpen allowing the Giants to score the game-winning run in the 10th and take Game 3, 5-4. The Giants now hold a 2-1 series lead and have an opportunity to close out the series at home with two more wins.
Matheny chose Choate to start the 10th after Seth Maness worked a perfect ninth and was lifted for Bourjos in the top of the inning. Choate walked leadoff batter Brandon Crawford on a close pitch just off the outside corner that AJ Pierzynski dropped. There is no way to know if someone with superior framing skills like Yadi gets that call, but dropping the pitch certainly didn’t tempt the Umpire to punch out Crawford. The walk ended a streak of 16 consecutive retired by Cardinal pitchers. Juan Perez then failed to sacrifice twice, but still reached with a single.
A mound visit was made by Pitching Coach Derek Lilliquist, but Choate remained in the game.
Gregor Blanco bunted the ball back to Choate in an attempt to advance Crawford to third, but Choate sailed the throw to Kolten Wong and Crawford came around to score. Choate had to bounce a little bit towards third, but it was definitely still his ball. Wong, sprinting to first base to cover, got there in time but stopping all his momentum and diving back towards second was a bit too much to ask of the 5’9” second baseman.
Although the way in which they lost was certainly disappointing, at 4:00 pm this afternoon many Cardinal fans thought the game might already be over.
The Cards fell behind early thanks to a 4-run first inning from the Giants. John Lackey did not look sharp and the Giants made him pay. With two outs in the inning, Buster Posey and Pablo Sandoval both singled. Hunter Pence then doubled down the right field line scoring Posey. A combination of Grichuck getting the ball in quickly and Sandoval’s less than blazing speed kept Sandoval from scoring. Matheny elected to put Brandon Belt on and Travis Ishikawa made him pay. Ishikawa crushed a ball to right that hit off the wall for a bases-clearing double.
There was a wave of criticism of Grichuk from Cardinal Twitter Nation immediately following the play because he took an awkward route to the ball and it ended up in a catchable position on the wall. However, writers at AT&T Park made it clear that the swirling wind in right was going to be a real issue.
Lackey settled in after the tumultuous first, and held the Giants to just one hit the rest of his six-inning start, a single to his counterpart Tim Hudson. The only other base runner was a hit by pitch for Pablo Sandoval.
Meanwhile, the Cardinal bats came alive in the fourth. Wong got his second extra base hit of the day and put the Cards on the board with a two-RBI triple. He hit it almost to the exact spot as Ishikawa’s first inning blast. Pence in solidarity with his fellow right fielder took an equally ugly route while trying to battle the wind.
In the sixth, Jon Jay led off the inning with one of his three singles on the day. Matts, Holliday and Adams, moved Jay to third with a pair of groundouts, and Jhonny Peralta drove him in to cut the Giants’ lead to 4-3.
Randal Grichuk got redemption in the Cardinals’ favorite inning, the seventh. Grichuk tied the game when he blasted a hanging off-speed pitch from Hudson off the left-field foul pole. Bochy finally pulled Hudson after the home run. Grichuk’s shot was eerily similar to his home run off Kershaw in his first postseason at bat.
The Cards slow start is nothing new. Per the king of trolling BFIB and Post-Dispatch writer, Joe Strauss, the Cardinals have scored only one run in the first, none in second, and two in third this postseason. Meanwhile, Cardinal opponents have put 11 runs on the board during that same period.
The Cardinals have to regroup for tomorrow’s must-win. Shelby Miller will take on Ryan Vogelsong with first pitch scheduled for 7:07 pm CT on FS1. The numbers aren’t good for teams that lose Game 3 when tied 1-1. The winner of Game 3 in that scenario wins the series 70.9% of the time, per ESPN Stats and Info. Madison Bumgarner pitching that potential clincher in Game 5 makes tomorrow even more important.
A win tomorrow guarantees a trip back to St. Louis.
Photo Credit: Thumbnail-Jeff Chiu, AP; Top-David J. Phillip, AP
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