St. Louis Cardinals’ Jason Motte ready to pitch in NLCS Game 4 if required – NLCS Update
As the St. Louis Cardinals took on the San Francisco Giants in Game 4 of the National League Championship on Thursday, October 18, Jason Motte indicated he was all ready to pitch again if the club deemed it right.
Motte had thrown two impressive innings, earning a valuable save for the Cardinals to win Game 3 by 3-1. With that, the Cardinals had secured a 2-1 lead, putting the San Francisco Giants under pressure as the NLCS progressed.
"Good to go," Motte said prior to the commencement of Game 4 wherein the Cardinals had Adam Wainwright as the starter on the mound.
It is pertinent to mention here that the post-season has witnessed a somewhat palpable slide at least in the Cardinals ability to have a solid start as far as rotation is concerned. The club has massively relied on the bullpen lately to compensate what the rotation failed to deliver.
It was here that Motte clicked in Wednesday’s Game 3, allowing the Cardinals enough space to manoeuvre. Motte’s outing was solid as he dominated the Giants' batters and did a tremendous job for the save.
Giants saw their batters collapse in front of Motte, a closer whose performance has witnessed conspicuous rise in recent years. He was as good as this in last year’s post-season games, emboldening the team’s bullpen.
Motte recalls the last year’s World Series.
"You just kind of breathe a little bit," Motte said. "I think last year, in the World Series, it got to the point where, even late in the season, Tony would give me the ball and be like, 'Breathe.' I thought, 'OK, I'll breathe. I don't even know what that means.'"
He added, "But if you think about it, yeah, it doesn't matter the situation, who's up, you just need to relax and breathe.”
With the win that he brought for the Cardinals in Wednesday’s crucial Game 3, it will be interesting to see whether the Cardinals dispatch him on the mound again to close Game 4, hoping the club eases its path to success.
Tags: