Lars Nootbaar led off the bottom of the first inning with a smoked single on an Aaron Nola fastball that sure looked more like a hard-earned double than a single and an error on Phillies centerfielder Brandon Marsh. Regardless, one of the fastest Cardinals was on second base first thing Saturday night, and the biggest postseason crowd in this stadium’s history was on its feet and whipping rally towels in a frenzy. Stranded.
Tommy Edman, who so rarely walks, worked a hard-earned one-out walk in the bottom of the third, clawing back from a 1-2 count in a seven-pitch showdown with Nola. Stranded.
Juan Yepez, after fouling off not one, not two, but three different Nola pitches — changeup, sinker, curveball — smacked the second sinker he saw to lead off the bottom of the fifth with a line-drive single to left field. Stranded.
Future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols, with one out in the bottom of the sixth, fouled off Nola’s first three pitches – sinker, changeup, fastball – before pushing a curveball into left field. Stranded.
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Corey Dickerson, with two outs in the bottom of the seventh and facing an o-2 count, chased the excellent Nola from the game with a single to center. Stranded.
Nootbaar in the bottom of the eighth worked a one-out walk on a seven-pitch at-bat against high-velocity Phillies reliever Jose Alvarado to bring up Pujols as the tying run. Pujols, with the massive billboard congratulating him on passing 700 career home runs looming in the night out beyond the ballpark, smashed a single down the left-field line off Seranthony Dominguez, the Phillies reliever inserted to face him, before a pinch-runner took his place. Two on. One out. National League MVP candidates Paul Goldschmidt up with National League MVP candidate Nolan Arenado on deck. Cardinals fans clap-clap-clapping their hands. Stranded.
Dickerson, with two outs and two strikes on him in the bottom of the ninth, flared a single to left against Zach Eflin. Molina, in the final at-bat of his career, singled to right field after falling behind 0-2. The future Hall of Famer wasn’t going out like that. But his Cardinals were. Stranded.
Time and time and time again the Cardinals’ offense continued its trend of failing to get the job done in the postseason, with this 2-0 loss to the Phillies in Game 2 of the National League Wild Card continuing a chill that dates back to when the Nationals swept the Cardinals out of the 2019 National League Championship Series.
Goldschmidt and Arenado combined to go 1-for-15 in this two-game series with six strikeouts….
Read More: Postseason shrinkage continues for Cardinals offense in latest quick exit