St. Louis Cardinals seal amazing 6-3 win, ousting Atlanta Braves in Wild Card game – Part 2
Controversial incidents aside, which halted the game for 19 minutes, the Cardinals' fans at home were keeping their fingers crossed for a positive outcome of it.
While the fiercely competitive game had its breathtaking moments, with the St. Louis Cardinals' batters and pitchers outrivaling the Atlanta Braves’ players, it was Kyle Lohse who had one of the most solid contributions in the team’s win.
As Kris Medlen, the Braves’ starter, was subject to massive hits and proven expensive, it was Lohse who pitched effectively. Outplaying the Braves’ batters, he merely allowed two runs in his 5.2 innings, while Medlen surrendered five runs in 6.1 innings.
Braves had four unearned runs allowed. Even though it was the Braves that scored first, with two-run in the second inning by David Ross, the Cardinals opened their account in the fourth with Allen Craig’s double to deep left, bringing the lead down to 2-1.
Yadier Molina grounded out to second to level the score as Medlen struggled massively. Before the Atlanta Braves’ pitcher could settle, it was David Freese who hit a sacrifice fly to centre to take the lead to 3-2 for the Cardinals.
Lohse, for his part, kept the lead intact for the Cardinals, adding to seeming frustration of the rivals. As the game progressed, with the Cardinals gradually taking their lead up, it was Matt Holliday who smashed a homer to left in the sixth innings to take the lead to 4-2.
With Pete Kozma making it 5-2 in the seventh inning, the game was effectively in the grip of the Cardinals. Matt Carpenter took it 6-2 in the seventh as the Braves bullpen also failed to stop the flow of runs.
"We played to win the game," Yadier Molina said. "They played to lose the game."
The Braves could not stage a comeback, thanks to the largely unbreakable and unshakable defence that the Cardinals were putting, as the bullpen did its part remarkably well with Lance Lynn, Marc Rzepczynski, and Mitchell Boggs pitching scoreless innings.
With Jason Motte on the mound to pitch the ninth inning, as the Cardinals had established 6-3 lead, the closer threw a scoreless ninth to end the Wild Card game with the Redbirds’ victory. This paved the way for the Cardinals’ bid to take the National League Division Series as well, supposed to be played against the Washington Nationals.
The exciting game proved that Major League Baseball had done a good thing by increasing the number of Wild Card berths to give more teams a chance for a shot to make it in to the playoffs. The fans were appreciative of the fact that more teams could now mix it up and compete in the post-season.
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