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 Three outs away from facing closer Aroldis Chapman and his 100-plus
mph fastballs, St. Louis touched setup man J.J. Hoover for three
hits and two runs to erase a 1-0 deficit in the bottom of the eighth
inning Monday night.
That allowed Trevor Rosenthal to secure his 47th save and the
Cardinals to pull out a 2-1 win that cut their magic number for
clinching their third straight National League Central title down to
nine.
Rosenthal worked around one-out singles by second baseman Brandon
Phillips and third baseman Todd Frazier, getting a flyout from right
fielder Jay Bruce and a game-ending groundout from pinch-hitter
Brayan Pena.
The save enabled Rosenthal to tie Lee Smith (1991) and Jason
Isringhausen (2004) for the single-season team mark.
"I'm still learning," said Rosenthal, a starter for most of his
minor league career. "They've helped me do a good job transitioning
to this role. I have a pretty good idea when I'm going to be
pitching."
Rosenthal's 100 mph fastball has been much more venomous this year,
as he's displayed the pinpoint control that marked his rookie season
in 2013, when he was a setup man until the regular season's last
week.
While Rosenthal bagged 45 saves last year, he also walked 42 batters
in 70 1/3 innings and had to be pulled from some save chances late
in the season due to control problems. That's not been the case this
year, as he's cut walks down to 23 in 66 2/3 innings and pitched to
a 1.49 earned run average.
"I've done a better job of attacking hitters earlier in the count,
making competitive pitches to the first couple of hitters,"
Rosenthal said.
St. Louis' closer fell into attack mode after its offense finally
did the same in the eighth, starting with a leadoff triple from
center fielder Tommy Pham off Cincinnati setup man J.J. Hoover
(8-2).
Pham and his teammates knew they needed an urgent response to keep
Chapman from appearing in the ninth.
"I knew the possibility of him coming into the game was approaching,
so if we could capitalize soon, it was only going to help us," Pham
said.
One out later, shortstop Jhonny Peralta lined a game-tying RBI
single to right, the first run the Cardinals had scored off the Reds
(63-86) at Busch Stadium in 29 innings, dating back to July 27.
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Two pitches later, left fielder Stephen Piscotty supplied the
tie-breaking run by ripping a double off the left-center field wall,
scoring pinch-runner Peter Bourjos.
The rally denied Cincinnati rookie starter John Lamb a win despite
the best outing of his brief major league career. Lamb tossed six
shutout innings, allowing just five hits with a walk and six
strikeouts.
"It's mixed emotions because our team didn't come away with the win,
but I'm excited with how I pitched," Lamb said. "It's nice to throw
six scoreless for sure."
After allowing Cincinnati's lone run in the first on a one-out
single by Phillips that plated center fielder Jason Bourgeois, St.
Louis starter Jaime Garcia retired 14 of the next 15 batters and
made it through seven innings. Garcia gave up five hits and a run
with two walks and five strikeouts.
But he was on the hook for a loss until the Cardinals (94-56)
notched their MLB-high 12th win after trailing going into the eighth
inning.
"Just goes to show that these guys stick with what's worked," St.
Louis manager Mike Matheny said. "They realize that something's
going to happen."
NOTES: St. Louis C Yadier Molina (left thumb) has a partially torn
ligament and won't play until at least Saturday, when the injury is
supposed to be re-evaluated. Molina was injured in the eighth inning
of Sunday's 4-3 win at the Chicago Cubs. ... The Cardinals bought
the contract of C Travis Tartamella from Triple-A Memphis, giving
them a third catcher, and designated 1B Xavier Scruggs for
assignment. ... Cincinnati CF Billy Hamilton (right shoulder) will
undergo season-ending surgery on Friday.
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