After a scoreless game going into a 35-minute rain delay, the St. Louis Cardinals rallied for a five-run seventh, benefiting from Joe Kelly balking in Matt Carpenter.
It may have been the Cardinals against the Los Angeles Dodgers on paper but Mother Nature threatened the game from the very beginning. The rain was coming—it was not a matter of if but when. Once it came, it soon became a question of whether or not they could at least reach the point of making it an official game. Regardless, it was a scoreless game and Lance Lynn’s night was finished in his first start of the season after coming back to the Cardinals. The threat loomed all night, but not only did they finish nine innings of regulation but the Dodgers game back to tie things at five runs apiece and giving fans free baseball.
The 7th inning kept the Cardinals in the game, but it wasn’t enough to guarantee a win after the Dodgers came back to tie in the ninth inning. Victor Scott II had his first grand slam opportunity with the game tied at 2 runs apiece. This is when things got really interesting. What looked like a sac fly was thought to be the second instance of catcher’s interference during the inning or even obstruction by Max Muncy but as fans later learned, it was officially ruled a balk by Dodgers pitcher Joe Kelly. Leave it to the former Cardinals pitcher to help his old team a few games into the 2024 season.
With bases loaded earlier in the 7th inning, Nolan Gorman got the rally started when he scored on a sac fly. Nolan Arenado scored shortly thereafter when Alec Burleson hit a liner to right field. Brendan Donovan hit a ground-rule double to right, scoring both Michael Siani and former Giants star Brandon Crawford. Up until the 10th inning, the Cardinals did all their damage in the 7th inning.
Relief pitcher Ryan Helsley entered the game for a save situation by facing thee most dangerous part of the Dodgers lineup. There’s no stopping Mookie Betts. Following a pair of sliders, he made it a one-run game in the bottom of the 9th inning. Ohtani struck out, leading Helsley and Freddie Freeman to face off against each other. Freeman found the right hole up the middle for a base-hit single. A pair of consecutive singles put the game into nerve-wracking territory with the Cardinals leading 5-4. Max Muncy got the best of Helsley by tying the game at 5 runs apiece. Twice, the Dodgers were down to their final strike and twice they breathed new life into the game.
Under the extra inning rules, the Cardinals sent Victor Scott II to second base to start the tenth inning with free baseball underway. Paul Goldschmidt grounded out but got the job accomplished by driving in Scott II and giving the Cardinals a 6-5 lead. Love it or hate it but the current extra inning rules benefited the Cardinals on a rainy Saturday night in Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, it was up to Giovanny Gallegos—entering the night six saves away from 50—to put the Dodgers away in the tenth. With one on and Gavin Lux down to his last strike, what else but another two-out base hit to bring Mookie Betts back up to the plate. Betts—down to his final strike–drew a walk to load the bases for Shohei Ohtani. Ohtani popped out to Crawford and that’s a winner for the Cardinals.
Saturday night’s 6-5 win required extra innings but it puts the Cardinals in position to potentially head to San Diego with a split to start the season.
