The Grand Slam: Unlikely hero saves St. Louis, sinks Milwaukee
Whatever slim chance the Milwaukee Brewers still had of making the playoffs diminished even further Thursday night thanks to some unlikely heroics from one of the most anonymous members of the St. Louis Cardinals.
Tony Cruz, a backup catcher only playing because St. Louis pinch-ran for All-Star Yadier Molina in the ninth inning, delivered a game-winning, 13th-inning single up the middle to plate Matt Adams from second and give the Cardinals a 3-2 victory.
St. Louis had already rallied from a 2-0 deficit thanks in part to a boneheaded eighth-inning miscue by Brewers first baseman Mark Reynolds. Instead of attempting to start an inning-ending double play on a hard ground ball, Reynolds nonchalantly strolled to first base and got just one out, extending an inning that would eventually culminate with the Cardinals tying the game by getting four straight two-out base runners off Jonathan Broxton.
Between their own loss to the division-leading Cardinals and Pittsburgh capitalizing on a lucky break to edge the Red Sox, Thursday was a nightmare for the Brewers. They now trail St. Louis by six games in the National League Central and Pittsburgh by 3 1/2 games in the race for the final wild card spot, a bleak outlook for a team that led the division much of the year.
St. Louis, meanwhile, maintained its 2 1/2 game lead in the division and moved one step closer to making the playoffs. The Cardinals last failed to earn a playoff bid in 2010.
YANKEES, JETER SHOW SIGNS OF LIFE: The surest sign the Derek Jeter farewell tour is approaching the finish line are the camera flashes that accompany the Yankees shortstop's every swing. On Thursday, Jeter gave camera-toting fans a moment worth remembering, hitting a solo home run down the third-base line to help the Yankees defeat Toronto 3-2.
Remarkably, the home run was the first Jeter has hit at Yankee Stadium this season and just the fourth he has belted all year. It helped the Yankees pull within five games of the slumping A's in the race for the second wild-card spot in the American League, though New York would also have to leapfrog Seattle and Cleveland to make the playoffs.
LOGAN MORRISON SAVES SEATTLE: How hot are the Angels? One night after clinching the American League West, they rested starter Jered Weaver, sent out a Triple-A lineup against Cy Young candidate Felix Hernandez and still battled the Mariners into the ninth inning.
Logan Morrison saved Seattle from what would have been an embarrassing loss when he broke a scoreless tie by slamming a belt-high change-up into the right-field stands with two outs in the ninth inning. The three-run homer broke a scoreless tie and enabled the Mariners to escape with a critical 3-1 victory.
Thanks to collapsing Oakland getting swept at home against Texas, Seattle has now pulled within a game of the A's in the race for the final AL wild-card spot. The Mariners play their next seven games on the road in Houston and Toronto before returning home for a final three-game series against the Angels.
DODGERS RALLY TO MAINTAIN GRIP ON NL WEST: Having dropped two straight entering Thursday's game against Chicago, the National League West-leading Dodgers needed a win to prevent the second-place Giants from creeping closer before their pivotal series next week. It looked bleak for the Dodgers after the Cubs bolted to a 4-1 lead after five innings, but a five-run seventh inning changed everything.
The key play came when Juan Uribe hit a potential double play ball in the direction of Chicago second baseman Logan Watkins. When Watkins bobbled it, the misplay enabled the first run of the inning to score from third base and sparked a flood of Dodgers hits that enabled them to turn a three-run deficit into a two-run lead.
The 8-4 victory increased the Dodgers' lead to 2 1/2 games and prevented them from dropping at least a half-game to the Giants for the third straight day. The Dodgers continue their series with the Cubs on Friday, while the Giants open a series at San Diego.
- - - - - - -
Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
