The numbers would suggest that opting for left-handed pitcher Parker Mushinski against JJ Wetherholt in Sunday’s eighth inning was the right move to make, and that’s just what Rockies’ manager Warren Schaeffer opted to do in a tied game.

However, the Cardinals’ standout rookie not only has a way with making conventional wisdom fall flat at times, but he also possesses a keen flair for the dramatic that showed itself late Sunday afternoon.

The left-handed-hitting Wetherholt drilled the first pitch he saw from Mushinski off the wall in center field for a two-run double that propelled the Cardinals to a 7-4 victory over the Rockies in the rubber game of the three-game series.

Wetherholt, 23 and a leading candidate to win the National League’s Rookie of the Year award, came into the at bat hitting just .237 with a .687 OPS against left-handed pitching – down from the .251 and .756 against righties. However, he smashed a 103.7 mph missile off the wall to score Masyn Winn and Nathan Church, who had singled to open the inning and moved up on a perfect sacrifice by Jose Fermin.

“I’m just trying to get on a good pitch early and I just told myself to stay calm and not try to do too much, which is big in those situations,” said Wetherholt, who was two for three with two runs scored and two driven in. “I got a pitch over the plate and put a good swing on it.”  

Wetherholt’s clutch hit allowed the Cardinals to win a game they led 4-1 before blowing the lead. The victory also allowed the Cards to even their record at 59-59. After losing their first six series following the break for the MLB All-Star Game, the Cardinals have responded by winning series against the Yankees and Rockies.

Wetherholt, who signed an eight-year contract extension that could be worth as much as $132 million earlier in the season, didn’t mind being in a pressure-packed situation in a game the Cardinals desperately needed to win to stay in the chase for a Wild Card berth.

“I think everybody does (want that pressure) as a player,” said Wetherholt, who came around to score on Ivan Herrera’s fourth hit of the game. “You always want to be the guy to win it, or you can wear it if you don’t (win the game). Being in that situation is always fun. I haven’t been able to come through the past couple of times, but I was able to come through today.”  

Up next for the Cardinals are the Phillies, one of the teams that St. Louis is chasing for one of the National League’s Wild Card slots. Philadelphia, which avoided a three-game sweep against the Blue Jays by winning in 12 innings on Sunday, plays in St. Louis over the next three nights. Andrew Painter, All-Star starter Cristopher Sanchez and Zack Wheeler will face off against Cardinals’ hurlers Hunter Dobbins, Andre Pallante and Kyle Leahy in the three-game series.

The two teams then face off again in Philadelphia from Aug. 21-23.

While the Cubs are comfortably positioned in the Wild Card chase, the Dbacks, Phillies, Padres, Marlins and Cardinals are closely bunched for two spots. St. Louis owns the tiebreaker over San Diego and will be trying to lock it up over Philadelphia, but it loses in tiebreaker scenarios against Arizona and Miami.

Much like on Saturday night, when Jake McCarthy homered on the game’s first pitch, the Colorado outfielder hit Sunday’s second pitch off the wall for a double. He came around to score three batters later, but the Rockies wouldn’t hold the lead long.

Jordan Walker, who ended his homerless streak at 22 games late in Saturday’s loss, went the other way with a pitch to score Wetherholt to tie the game in the bottom of the first.

The Cardinals broke the tie in the third inning when they scored two times – one of them pushed across by more clutching hitting with runners in scoring position from shortstop Masyn Winn. After Jimmy Crooks delivered a sacrifice fly to score Ivan Herrera, who had opened the inning with a hard-hit double down the third base line. Winn crushed a 2-1 changeup off the wall in left-center – a drive that left the bat at 104.8 mph – to make it a 3-1 game.

In the fifth inning, Burleson was clearly looking for a sinker and got it on the first pitch from Michael Lorenzen. Burleson drove the pitch 110.3 mph and 441 feet for his 19th homer of the season.

The Cardinals’ seemingly safe 4-1 evaporated in the sixth inning when McGreevy inexplicably lost his velocity and saw Brett Sullivan drive a 91.6 mph sinker out of the park for a two-run homer. That shot, combined with Willi Castro’s 105.2 mph double before it, knocked McGreevy out of the game.

McGreevy surrendered eight hits, three earned runs and two walks over 5 2/3 innings. He struck out four but threw just 59 strikes in his 102 pitches. He lost on a chance at his fifth win when Hunter Goodman blasted a solo homer off George Soriano in the eighth inning.