Cardinals Snakebitten in Arizona

THE CARDINAL CHRONICLE
Cardinals Snakebitten in Arizona
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur

The St. Louis Cardinals had the series.

They had the game.

They had a 7-0 lead.

And somehow, by the end of a brutal Sunday afternoon at Chase Field, they had a loss that will not be easy to shake.

The Arizona Diamondbacks rallied all the way back to beat the Cardinals, 8-7, in 10 innings, taking the rubber game of the three-game series and handing St. Louis one of its most painful losses of the season.

This was more than a blown lead. This was a game the Cardinals appeared to have packed, sealed, labeled and loaded on the team plane.

Then the snakes got loose.

St. Louis jumped all over Arizona left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez in the third inning, turning a scoreless game into a 5-0 lead. Lars Nootbaar reached, and Blaze Jordan drove him home with an RBI triple to left field. JJ Wetherholt followed with a run-scoring single to make it 2-0.

The Cardinals kept coming.

Jordan Walker doubled to left, scoring Wetherholt and moving Iván Herrera to third. Alec Burleson then delivered one of the biggest swings of the inning, lining a two-run single to center field to bring home Herrera and Walker.

Five runs in the third.

A 5-0 lead.

A road series sitting right there.

The Cardinals added two more in the fifth, and once again, Blaze Jordan was in the middle of it. With Alec Burleson and José Fermín aboard, Jordan singled to right field, scoring both runners and pushing the Cardinals’ lead to 7-0.

At that point, this game looked like exactly what St. Louis needed.

The Cardinals had taken Friday night’s opener, dropped Saturday’s game, and had a chance to win the series coming out of the All-Star break. They were facing a Diamondbacks club sitting in the same crowded National League Wild Card traffic, so this was not just another July getaway game.

This one carried weight.

Andre Pallante looked like he was doing his part for most of the afternoon. He worked quickly, kept Arizona quiet early, and had the Diamondbacks searching for answers through the first five innings.

Then the sixth inning arrived, and the game changed.

Arizona finally broke through when Adrian Del Castillo and Ryan Waldschmidt reached, and Ketel Marte singled to center to score Del Castillo. Gabriel Moreno later drew a bases-loaded walk to bring in Waldschmidt, cutting the Cardinals’ lead to 7-2.

Pallante had done plenty, but he was clearly running out of road. Oliver Marmol turned to Ryne Stanek with the bases still full, and Tyler Locklear walked to force in another run.

The lead was still 7-3.

But the feel of the game had changed.

Arizona had life.

St. Louis had trouble.

The Cardinals escaped the sixth still in front, but the Diamondbacks were no longer buried. They were back in the game, and the Cardinals’ offense, which had done all its damage early, suddenly went quiet.

That silence mattered.

When a team jumps ahead 7-0, it is easy to think the offense has done enough. But in a park like Chase Field, against a club like Arizona, seven runs are only enough if the pitching staff protects them.

The Diamondbacks kept pushing.

In the seventh, Geraldo Perdomo hit a line drive to left field that turned into one of the strangest and most damaging plays of the game. What initially looked like extra-base trouble became an inside-the-park home run, scoring Adrian Del Castillo and pulling Arizona within 7-5.

That was the moment the afternoon really started to feel cursed.

The Cardinals still had the lead, but it no longer felt safe. Not even close.

Then came the eighth.

With Tyler Locklear aboard, former Cardinal Nolan Arenado stepped in against Gordon Graceffo and delivered the swing that completed the comeback. Arenado drove a ball to left-center field for a two-run homer, tying the game at 7-7 and sending Chase Field into a frenzy.

Of course it was Arenado.

Baseball has a cruel sense of humor sometimes.

The Cardinals had led by seven. Now they were tied. The series was hanging in the balance. Momentum had completely flipped.

St. Louis had a chance to answer, but the Arizona bullpen shut the door. After being battered early, the Diamondbacks’ relief corps settled the game down and gave the offense time to climb all the way back.

Juan Morillo worked the Cardinals through the late innings and sent the game into extras. Once there, Arizona finished what it had started, walking off the Cardinals in the 10th and completing a stunning comeback.

The final score was Diamondbacks 8, Cardinals 7.

The Cardinals finished the series with one win and two losses, but this one will sting more than the standings can properly explain.

Friday night, St. Louis opened the second half with a gritty 5-4 win behind Masyn Winn’s bat and glove. Saturday, Dustin May struggled in a 5-3 loss. Sunday was supposed to be the rebound, and for five innings, it looked like the Cardinals were going to leave Phoenix with a series win.

Instead, they left snakebitten.

There were positives, but they will be hard to appreciate after a loss like this.

Blaze Jordan had a strong afternoon, driving in three runs and continuing to show why his bat belongs in the conversation. Alec Burleson delivered a two-run single and helped build the early cushion. Jordan Walker doubled home a run. JJ Wetherholt added an RBI single. The Cardinals’ offense did plenty early.

But the offense stopped scoring after the fifth.

The bullpen could not hold the lead.

And the Diamondbacks kept putting pressure on until the Cardinals finally cracked.

This is the kind of loss that tests a club. Not because one game defines a season, but because games like this reveal how quickly momentum can turn. The Cardinals had control, then comfort, then concern, then panic, then silence.

That is the arc of a blown seven-run lead.

There is no good way to dress it up.

The Cardinals had a 7-0 lead, then everything fell apart.

Arizona chipped away, Perdomo sparked the comeback, Arenado tied it, and the Diamondbacks finished it in extras.

The Cardinals needed this game.

They had this game.

They lost this game.

Cardinals 7, Diamondbacks 8.

Snakebitten in Arizona.

The Cardinal Chronicle, in association with Gateway Sports & MiLB Today
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