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Thursday, September 08, 2022

Cards show ‘zero panic,’ score 5 in 9th for walk-off win

The story of the night from Wednesday, of course, was the Cardinals grinding out one grueling ninth-inning at-bat after another to build momentum, until it came to a crescendo with Tommy Edman’s two-run walk-off double for an improbable 6-5 victory over the Nationals at Busch Stadium.

The bigger picture, however, is what this stirring win could do for St. Louis come postseason time next month.

Not long after Edman’s double eluded left fielder Alex Call’s glove and allowed Tyler O’Neill and rookie Ben DeLuzio to come around and score, superstar third baseman Nolan Arenado—one of the heroes of the madcap five-run rally—admitted the Cardinals have shifted their focus in recent days.

Instead of simply trying to whip the slumping Brewers in the National League Central, the Cards now have the Mets and Braves in their sights in hopes of securing the coveted No. 2 seed in the NL. Getting that would give St. Louis a first-round bye and keep it from having to be exposed against a dangerous team such as Philadelphia, San Diego or Milwaukee in the Wild Card Series.

In becoming the first MLB team this season to enter the bottom of the ninth inning down by four or more runs and rally to win, the Cardinals closed to within five games of the Braves and 5 1/2 of the Mets.

Cardinals were 3.0 GB of the Brewers on August 1. pic.twitter.com/FPMr2jDCWt
— Drew Silva (@drewsilv) September 8, 2022

RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: September 08, 2022 at 10:54 AM | 15 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
Tags: cardinals

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1. salvomania Posted: September 08, 2022 at 11:25 AM (#6095224)

Nootbaar better get going again: ever since everyone started going gaga for him he's stopped hitting---five straight oh-fers have dropped his average down to .226 and he's dropped 60 pts of OPS; he's only 2 for his last 28 (both homers).

2. Lassus Posted: September 08, 2022 at 03:13 PM (#6095276)

So if they hadn't come back from five runs down, that would have indicated panic?

3. RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: September 08, 2022 at 03:38 PM (#6095278)

No, they showed zero panic.

4. Walt Davis Posted: September 08, 2022 at 03:38 PM (#6095279)

If A then not B does imply (post hoc) if B then not A but does not imply if not A then B and therefore does not imply (post hoc) if not B then A.

5. The Yankee Clapper Posted: September 08, 2022 at 05:06 PM (#6095291)

Cardinals down 11-4 in 9th today, but only 1 out (and they do have the bases loaded). Too early to panic?

6. the Hugh Jorgan returns Posted: September 08, 2022 at 06:37 PM (#6095310)

I guess all the panicking happened today when they gave up 18 hits and 11 runs?

The Cardinals are having a really nice season, unfortunately for them the Dodgers, Mets and Braves are insanely good so will need a bit of luck in addition to good situational hitting to navigate themselves through the playoffs. But hey, at least they'll be there and give themselves a chance and that's all you can ask for as a fan.

7. TomH Posted: September 08, 2022 at 07:19 PM (#6095323)

"the Cards now have the Mets and Braves in their sights in hopes of securing the coveted No. 2 seed in the NL."

REALLY?
The White Sox, 69-68, have a better chance of making the playoffs as a wild card than St Louis does of passing BOTH NY and ATL. NOT GONNA HAPPEN.

8. Howie Menckel Posted: September 08, 2022 at 07:27 PM (#6095324)

saw the 9th inning today. Cards got 2 runs in to 9th to get within 11-6, but the panic in the dugout was palpable so that was the end.

:)

and yes, the Cardinals' supposed bid for a bye is highly entertaining.

9. The Duke Posted: September 08, 2022 at 07:45 PM (#6095331)

7. The cardinals have zero chance to get the first round bye. Passing one team is doable but not likely. Both, impossible.
It's a team that lives or dies on two guys. And
They've both gone cold (or not as warm )

10. cardsfanboy

Posted: September 08, 2022 at 09:07 PM (#6095347)

REALLY?
The White Sox, 69-68, have a better chance of making the playoffs as a wild card than St Louis does of passing BOTH NY and ATL. NOT GONNA HAPPEN.

It's highly unlikely obviously, something I've been saying for quite a while, but it's not impossible, the Mets remaining schedule does make it very unlikely of course, but you never know with certainty. They would have a better chance if the Braves and Mets had more than three games remaining against each other.

11. Rally Posted: September 09, 2022 at 09:27 AM (#6095401)

I don’t think there is a lead big enough that I would expect the 2022 Nationals to be able to hold over the Cards.

A little surprised that they held on yesterday for an 11-6 win. Only gave up 2 in the bottom 9th.

12. TomH Posted: September 09, 2022 at 11:05 AM (#6095421)

Brewers taking down the Cardinals for the division is also not impossible. In fact way MORE likely than STL getting a bye. It might be as (un)likely as the Phils, Braves/Mets and Padres conspiring to shut the Cards out of the playoffs altogether.. also not impossible.

13. cardsfanboy

Posted: September 09, 2022 at 06:00 PM (#6095518)

Brewers taking down the Cardinals for the division is also not impossible. In fact way MORE likely than STL getting a bye. It might be as (un)likely as the Phils, Braves/Mets and Padres conspiring to shut the Cards out of the playoffs altogether.. also not impossible.

I guess so, but with the Braves and Mets playing each other 3 times, there is a real possibility that the Cardinals could gain two games on one of those two teams just from that series and considering they are only 6 games back, it's not an impossibility, just as the Brewers have 4 more games against the Cardinals, so they are (in their mind) only 4 games back with a sweep of those four games.

Obviously getting pass two teams, both of which are good teams and both have a fairly easy remaining schedule is a near impassivity, but not impossible.

14. Sleepy was just looking for porta potties Posted: September 09, 2022 at 08:22 PM (#6095544)

The cardinals could still catch the dodgers, technically ;)

15. cardsfanboy

Posted: September 09, 2022 at 08:25 PM (#6095547)

The cardinals could still catch the dodgers, technically ;)

Yep, magic number of 12 for the Dodgers over the Cardinals or 40 for the Cardinals.... with 24 games remaining for the Cardinals.

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Thursday, September 08, 2022

Cards show ‘zero panic,’ score 5 in 9th for walk-off win

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