It was almost a great story.
A fantastic pitchers’ duel between Jaime Garcia and Colby Lewis turned into a 1-0 Cardinals lead over the Rangers in the bottom of the seventh, courtesy of a deja vu RBI-pinch-hit from Allen Craig off Alexi Ogando. David Freese even scored the run again.
The score was still 1-0 when Jason Motte took the mound in the top of the ninth, the Cardinals three outs away from going up in the Series 2-0.
But all streaks, including those of consistently great relieving and the Not Closer racking up saves, come to an end. Just like the Cardinals streak of “happy flights” now ends at 17 games — today’s flight to Dallas will be different than any the team has taken since Aug. 3, since they’ll be coming off a loss. The Rangers came back and won 2-1 last night.
The Busch Stadium crowd was of course roaring as Ian Kinsler stepped in against Motte to start the ninth. He hit a fly to shallow left-center — Rafael Furcal, Matt Holliday and Jon Jay all raced in, but the ball was just out of the reach of Furcal. That brought up Elvis Andrus. His first intent was to bunt but, with a 1-2 count, Kinsler got a great jump and stole second — despite Yadi’s best attempt to throw him out.
Andrus then singled to center. Albert Pujols missed Jon Jay’s relay throw in — it hit his glove — but Yadi retrieved it and fired to second. Safe. So two on, none out, Josh Hamilton coming up and Tony La Russa takes out Motte and brings in Arthur Rhodes.
Hamilton hit a fly ball to right — a sac fly to tie the game as Kinsler scored, plus Andrus moved up to third.
Next in to pitch for the Cardinals: Lance Lynn. Next up for the Rangers: Michael Young. The count ran full before Young launched a fly to center. Back-to-back sac flies to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead. Adrian Beltre grounded out to end the inning.
In the bottom of the ninth, the Cardinals had a chance when Yadi was walked by Neftali Feliz to start the inning. Nick Punto attempted to bunt pinch-runner Gerald Laird over but could not and struck out. Skip Schumaker did as well, then Furcal flied out to right to end it.
So, who’s fault is the loss?
The bullpen, which had been so stellar for so long? That’s one opinion, as exemplified by Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Perhaps we should have seen this coming. Before losing Game 2, the Cardinals had gone 31-13 since Aug. 25, and maybe they were due for a misstep. Maybe the Rangers were overdue for a rally. Maybe it was just time for the Cardinals’ bullpen to lose one late. You can only beat the odds for so long. It is unreasonable to expect perfection from this bullpen on a nightly basis, especially during the stress of extreme October static.
“The same compliment can be a criticism the next day. Mostly, it comes down to you make a move and if it works, ‘Hey, what a good move.’ And if it doesn’t work, ‘What was he thinking? He should have done something else.’ ”
What about Albert missing the cutoff throw — a move that allowed Elvis Andrus to end up at second and ultimately score the go-ahead run? He’s the choice of Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports, although he seems to a bigger problem with Albert not sticking around to face the media following the game.
Do you blame the offense? The Cardinals did have nine runners left on base. Is that because the Rangers pitching was good enough, allowing the Cards to get on base but no farther? Or is it the failure of the hitters to come through when needed?
Regardless of whose fault it is — or if the loss can even be blamed on one person — the end result is the same. And it overlooks a truly incredible performance by Jaime Garcia, who pitched seven innings and allowed just three hits, walked one and struck out seven. Plus there’s the incredible feat by Allen Craig: two World Series at-bats as a pinch-hitter, two RBI singles, both off the same pitcher.
The series is now tied 1-1 and headed to Rangers Ballpark in Arlington for the next three games. Being in a crucial situation is a familiar one for the Cardinals, as they’ve had to fight their way to win when everyone keeps counting them out for more than six weeks now.
Game three is Saturday night starting at 7:05 p.m. Central.
Christine Coleman is the senior St. Louis Cardinals reporter for Aaron Miles’ Fastball. Follow her on Twitter, @CColeman802, or email aaronmilesfastball@gmail.com. Also follow @AMilesFastball for the latest updates.
