The Cardinals entered play with a 1.5 game lead over
Houston
in the NL Central with three to play (
Houston
only had two left). This would wind up being their final win, as the Astros
would lose out, and the final margin would be 1.5 with a pitiful 83-78 record.
Of course, they would go on to win the World Series.
This was a dramatic game to boot. Ben Sheets shut out St.
Louis for six frames, fanning six and walking one,
while Jeff Suppan cruised through six shutout innings on just 71 pitches. He
ran into trouble in the seventh, with Jeff Cirillo delivering a two-out,
two-run pinch-hit single to stake Milwaukee
to the lead. Jose Capellan retired the Cards in order in the seventh, but
surrendered a single to Albert Pujols and a double to Scott Rolen and left with
two men in scoring position, one out in the eighth. Brian Shouse was summoned,
so Tony LaRussa played the platoon matchup and pinch-hit Juan Encarnacion for
Jim Edmonds. Encarnacion was intentionally walked, and Francisco Cordero came
in to face Ronnie Belliard, who lined to right.
Two outs, and Scott Spezio hit for Yadier Molina. Down in the count 1-2, he
lined a triple to right to clear the bases. Adam Wainwright would yield only a
two out walk in the ninth in recording the save, and St.
Louis had secured the final victory they would wind up
needing to back into a division crown.
I can sense the excitement of the moment from the scoresheet alone, but
sometimes it’s fun to watch the video too:
https://youtu.be/TZy3EiPRIWE?t=7393
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