The St. Louis Cardinals went to battle with the San Francisco Giants in game two of the NLCS down 1-0, and sent the young Lance Lynn versus the crafty San Fran veteran Jake Peavy. This game had all the feel of a do-or-die game for the home team, and the best fan base in all of baseball hung onto every pitch. By the end, the voice of the late great Jack Buck echoed from the past: 'Go Crazy Folks, Go Crazy!'
The game got off to a bang in the top of first inning. With Joe Panik on first, after a one out single, Buster Posey smashed one into the gap and right-fielder Randall Grichuk made a sliding catch deep into right-center. That undoubtedly saved a run. St. Louis went 1-2-3 in their half of the first, and we were all knotted at zero.
Inning number two was a little more calm for SF, but still stirred the bases up. Travis Ishikawa lined out to 1B Matt Adams to end the inning, but once again they had a man on 1st thanks to a Brandon Belt walked. Brandon Crawford hit into a fielder's choice, so he was left on when Ishikawa lined out.
The bottom of the second was led by Matt Adams for St. Louis. He hit one very deep, but was corralled by Hunter Pence. Johnny Peralta walked on five pitches, and Yadier Molina lined a single into left. Kolten Wong took it to a full count and flied out to center. The rookie RF Randall Grichuk would ebd the rally with a ground out to third.
The third inning started as a quiet one. San Fran got Gregory Blanco on off a blooper, but couldn't get anything else going. St Louis had the pitcher, Lance Lynn, leading off which was an easy out. Then stepped in Matt Carpenter, and he hammered one over the right field wall. That was all the scoring, but the Redbirds had 1-0 third inning lead.
Lance Lynn really started to settle in midway through the game. Another 1-2-3 inning sent St. Louis back out with momentum.
The Cardinals started the inning with the first two batters reaching. Adams walked and Peralta singled, and Molina bunted them over. Wong was intentionally walked to get to the rookie Grichuk, who singled in Adams to make it 2-0 with one away. Lynn would fly out to shallow right with nobody advances.
That would being Matt Carpenter back up. Peavy quickly got behind 2-0, but a cutter over the plate was just missed. Carpenter would fly out on that pitch to shallow center, but St. Louis had a 2-0 lead.
San Fran would answer with a tally of their own in the top of the 5th. Brandon Belt would single, and with one out Ishikawa would reach on a double that popped out of a diving Jon Jay's glove. Belt would score on the next play as pinch hitter Joaquin Arias grounded out to second. 2-1 St. Louis. Blanco would strike out to end the 5th.
St. Louis was silent in the bottom of the inning and gave it right back to San Fran at 2-1 in the top of the 6th. The Giants would score the tying run after a quick two outs. Pablo Sandoval would double into the left-field stands, and Hunter pence would single him in to tie the game. The game would head to the bottom of the sixth tied at two.
Jeremy Affeldt, in his second inning of relief, would start the sixth off by walking Peralta. Yadier Molina would ground out into a double play and the trainers would walk him into the dugout. He was in obvious pain and was replaced by Tony Cruz. It was a strained left oblique injury. Wong struck out to end the inning.
The Giants would take advantage of the injury in the next inning. Cruz's passed ball behind the plate put Crawford in scoring position after his walk. Gregory Blanco would single, with the infield in. to make it 3 to 2. Grichuk would keep it at that with a rifle of a throw from right field on the ensuing shallow fly. At the end of 6 1/2 it was 3-2 St. Louis. The Cards still had a chance.
The bottom of the seventh put San Francisco's Jean Machi on the mound to start the bridge to their closer. When it looks its worse, here come the Cardinals: rookie sensation Oscar Tavares plowed a solo shot into the right-field stands to tie the game!
Tim Neshek came in for the Cards in the top of the eighth. His great season continued as he buzzed through the Giants 1-2--3 with two strike outs. The crowd in St. Louis was bouncing in anticipation.
The innings had a feel, like another big moment was on the way. Slugger Matt Holliday flew out to center, but that's when 'Big City' struck again. 1B Matt Adams hit a bomb that still hasn't landed into the St. Louis night over the right field wall. A one run lead, late in the game, meant Trevor Rosenthal was up and at it in the Cardinal bullpen.
Rosenthal came in to close the game and tie the series up. He absolutely unraveled. Once again, he struggled with his control. He ran all the counts high and with 2 outs, 2 on and a full count, he allowed the tying run to score. His wild pitch allowed Matt Duffy to score all the way from second, as the runners were in motion. Seth Maness had to come in and get the final out of the 9th with the bases loaded by Rosenthall.
The bottom of the 9th would bring the Giants Sergio Romo to the mound. The first batter was the rookie Kolten Wong and he went yard! Cardinals win it 5-4 on a walk-off home run, their fourth of the night.
The Cardinals have found a power surge to lead the way. St. Louis has hit eleven home runs this post season. This is a team that rarely went deep in the regular season. Those balls need to continue to fly deep, as St. Louis heads west for three in San Francisco. It will be the Cardinals' John Lackey vs. Tim Hudson of the Giants. Go crazy folks, go crazy!