Read the Cardinals side (the whole game, score included)
St. Louis at San Francisco
This is Missed It. St. Louis at San Francisco, Wednesday, September 9, 80 and partly cloudy at Oracle Park, with the Cardinals. You missed it? Here's the whole game, as it happened.
Pregame
It's a fresh one out in San Francisco, folks. The St. Louis Cardinals are on the road, taking on the San Francisco Giants. We've got a full nine innings ahead of us, and the Cardinals are looking to make some noise out west. The bats are loose, the gloves are ready, and we're about to see what tonight brings. Let's play ball.
Innings 1-3
We start things off in the top of the first, and it's a quick one. The Cardinals send three batters to the plate, and they go down in order. No runs, no drama, just a clean inning for the Giants. Score stays at zero-zero. But the bottom of the first, that's where the action starts. The Giants come out swinging. With nobody out and nobody on, Drew Gilbert steps in and rips a line drive to center field. Nathan Church is out there, but he can't get to it. Gilbert's on second with a double, and you can feel the momentum shift. The crowd's on their feet, and the Giants have a runner in scoring position with no one out. That's a dangerous spot to be in. Then, with one out and a runner on, Bryce Eldridge steps up. He takes a swing and sends a line drive to left field. Bryan Torres is chasing it, but it's too deep. Drew Gilbert comes around to score, and just like that, the Giants are on the board. One to nothing. That's a big play, folks. We're down early, but it's a long game. The Cardinals answer right back in the top of the second. Six batters come to the plate, and they're not messing around. With one out and a runner on, Nolan Gorman steps in. He connects on a fly ball to left field, and Grant McCray is tracking it, but it drops in. Joshua Báez comes around to score, and we're tied at one apiece. That's the response we needed. We're right back in this thing. The bottom of the second is quiet. The Giants send four batters to the plate, but they can't push anything across. We get out of it, and the score stays tied at one-one. Then comes the top of the third. This is where things open up. Six batters come to the plate, and the Cardinals are relentless. With one out and a runner on, Alec Burleson works a walk. Now we've got something brewing. The momentum is shifting our way. And then Leo Bernal steps up. He's got a runner on first, and Iván Herrera is on base too. Two on, one out. Bernal takes a swing, and he gets all of it. That ball is gone. A fly ball to right field, and it's out of here. Iván Herrera scores. Alec Burleson scores. Leo Bernal scores. Just like that, it's four to one, Cardinals. That's a big, big play. The dugout is fired up, and we've got ourselves a lead. The Giants come up in the bottom of the third, and they go down in order. Three batters, no runs. We're up four to one, and we're feeling good.
Innings 4-6
The top of the fourth is a quick one. Three batters, no runs. The Giants are keeping us in check, but we've still got the lead. Four to one. The bottom of the fourth is just as quick. Three batters for the Giants, and they can't get anything going. We're cruising. Four to one. Now the top of the fifth. This is where we add on. Five batters come to the plate, and we're putting pressure on. With nobody out, the bases are loaded. This is our chance to blow this thing open. Leo Bernal steps up, and he hits a ground ball to shortstop Christian Koss. It's a double play ball. Koss to Jonah Cox at second, on to Bryce Eldridge at first. But Bryan Torres scores on the play. Iván Herrera moves to third. Alec Burleson is out at second. Leo Bernal is out at first. It's a double play, but we get the run. Five to one, Cardinals. That's how you manufacture runs, folks. We'll take it. The bottom of the fifth is quiet. Three batters, no runs. We're still up five to one. The top of the sixth, and we're not done yet. Five batters come to the plate. With one out and two on, José Fermín steps up. He hits a sacrifice fly to center field. Drew Gilbert is out there, and he makes the catch. Thomas Saggese tags up and scores. Nathan Church moves to third. Six to one, Cardinals. That's another run, and we're building a cushion. This is exactly what we needed.
The Sequence
Now here's where things get interesting. We're up six to one, and it feels like we're in control. But baseball is a game of momentum, and the Giants aren't done yet. The bottom of the sixth is quiet. Four batters, no runs. Six to one. The top of the seventh is quiet too. Three batters, no runs. Six to one. The bottom of the seventh, three batters, no runs. Six to one. We're still holding on. The top of the eighth, four batters, no runs. Six to one. We're nine outs away from a comfortable win. But then the bottom of the eighth happens. The Giants send ten batters to the plate. Ten. And this is where the game turns. With two outs and the bases loaded, Bryce Eldridge steps up. He hits a ground ball to center field. Nathan Church is out there, but he can't get to it. Drew Cavanaugh scores. Brett Harris scores. Turner Hill moves to third. Six to three. The lead is shrinking. Then, with two outs and two on, Jonah Cox steps up. He hits a ground ball to shortstop Thomas Saggese. Turner Hill scores. Bryce Eldridge moves to second. Six to four. The crowd is roaring now. We're hanging on by a thread. And then Jung Hoo Lee steps up. Two outs, two on. He hits a line drive to right field. Joshua Báez is chasing it, but it's too deep. Bryce Eldridge scores. Jonah Cox scores. Six to six. Tie game. The Giants have come all the way back. And they're not done. With two outs and a runner on, Shay Whitcomb steps up. He hits a sharp fly ball to right field. Joshua Báez is out there, but he can't get to it. Jung Hoo Lee scores. Six to seven. The Giants have taken the lead. The top of the ninth. Three batters. No runs. The Cardinals can't answer. The game is over.
Wrap-up
Final score: St. Louis Cardinals six, San Francisco Giants seven. We had it. We were up six to one, and we let it slip away. That bottom of the eighth is going to sting for a while. The bats went quiet when we needed them most, and the Giants took full advantage. It's a tough loss, folks. A real tough one. But we'll shake it off and get back at it tomorrow. That's all we can do.
Outro
That was St. Louis at San Francisco, from the Cardinals side. This has been Missed It. Every game, both sides, at missed it dot net. Produced by James Barrett.