Usually reliable closer Riley O'Brien surrendered a two-out, two-strike homer in the bottom of the ninth inning and the Padres rallied to beat the Cardinals 3-2 in 10 innings on Sunday.
A strike away from a dominant series victory and a historic performance from their pitching staff, the Cardinals suddenly saw disaster strike when their usually reliable closer faltered and their run of perfect extra-inning games ended in a forgettable finish.
Riley O’Brien got within a strike of tying superstar closer Mason Miller for the MLB lead in saves before Nick Castellanos took him deep for a game-tying, two-out, two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning. Then, after the Cardinals failed to score in the 10th, Padres’ star Manny Machado won it with a lazy sacrifice fly in a 3-2 San Diego win at Petco Park.
“What I love about this is that you’ve got a clubhouse that’s pretty pissed right now,” manager Oliver Marmol told Cardinals.TV after his team dropped to 5-1 in extra-inning games. “That says something to not wanting to come into this (game) and wanting to just split with (the Padres). They wanted to get (Mason) Miller (on Saturday) and they wanted to take the series and prove what they’re all about. I like the fact that the mood is what it is and the expectations are high. I love that.”
Dominant pitching from Cards in series
O’Brien’s third blown save of the season cost the Cardinals a chance of winning the four-game series in San Diego. The pitching staff limited the Padres to four hits on Sunday and just 14 in the series, eclipsing the previous franchise low (since 1901) of 16 hits allowed over a four-game series.
The Padres didn’t even have a hit in the winning bottom of the 10th inning. They took advantage of two Gordon Graceffo walks – one of them intentional – and scored when Machado lofted a fly ball to right and Ramon Laurenano beat Jordan Walker’s throw.
“That’s a good lineup across the way and we held them down for the most part,” Marmol said. “The rotation did a nice job and the bullpen did a nice job. They got the closer today, but outside of that, the preparation has been incredible.”
After Alec Burleson laced a letter-high fastball into right field to break up Walker Buehler’s perfect game bid through 3 2/3 innings, Walker turned on a wayward curveball on the inner half and hit it into the third deck of the famed Western Metal Supply warehouse in left field. Walker’s titanic two-run homer – one that left the bat at 108.3 mph and traveled 425 feet – was his 11th long ball of the season.
The Cardinals generated little offense outside of that fourth-inning flurry, finishing with just three hits. That left them exposed when Castellanos hit his second homer as a Padre to knot the score at 2 in the ninth inning. After falling into an 0-2 count, Castellanos worked the count full and fouled off three pitches before hitting the ninth pitch of the at bat 389 feet.
Good all season at flushing previous results – be them feel-good victories or gut-punch losses – Marmol predicted that his club will be ready on Tuesday when it faces the Athletics in Sacramento.
“I’d like to go at it again (now),” Marmol said with a sly smile.
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