What were the Cardinals thinking? Botched hit-and-runs doom St. Louis
Why Allen Craig was sent in the ninth inning I have no idea. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Albert Pujols is one of the best hitters baseball has ever seen. He might already be in the all-time top-five. So, why was Allen Craig told to attempt a steal of second with him at the plate? And why did this take place on two different occasions?
The St. Louis Cardinals failed to take advantage of many chances throughout Game 5. Their hitters just didn’t come through when they needed to most, as exemplified by 12 runners left on base. Yet, it was the runners who were thrown out on the basepaths that fueled a late-inning defeat and a World Series deficit.
In the seventh of a tie game, Craig worked a one-out walk against Texas Rangers reliever Alexi Ogando. Pujols strode to the plate, with Matt Holliday, Lance Berkman, and David Freese waiting as the next three hitters. The potential was there for a big inning. Pujols had been intentionally walked three times two nights after hitting three homers. One of those blasts, the longest of them all, was off Ogando. The only sane choice would be to let him swing away. The odds were good that he would come through.
Texas wasn’t about to walk him and given those behind him more runners to potentially drive in. That didn’t mean they weren’t going to be careful with him. After all, Ogando’s best pitch, his fastball that can hit triple digits on the gun, was crushed 425 feet to left in Game 3. Their strategy was the correct one: pitch him away and very high, hoping he would chase and get himself out. After a first-pitch slider on the outside corner for a strike, Ogando threw a fastball over the plate but well high, in line with the top of Pujols’ helmet. Craig, far from fast, was running. Wait, what? Pujols took an ugly hack and missed. Catcher Mike Napoli came up throwing. Craig was gunned out by a mile.
The supposed hit-and-run was a head-scratcher, to say the least. The bases now empty, Texas intentionally walked Pujols. This nearly backfired on the Rangers, as Holliday singled and Berkman was intentionally walked to load the bases, but Freese gift-wrapped a first-pitch flyout to center-field. Swinging at the first pitch with Ogando struggling wasn’t smart, but if the hit-and-run wasn’t on with Pujols at the plate a go-ahead run might have already scored.
Craig was seen discussing the play with manager Tony LaRussa in the dugout following Pujols’ walk. After he said something, La Russa appeared to ask, “Who?”, as in who put on the hit-and-run sign. He nodded after Craig told him and turned away. Who, then, and why? Pujols could have called it. If that was the case, why would he put even more pressure on himself to protect the plate and make solid contact? The first-base coach could have called it. Whoever did, it was a bone-headed move.
The 0-1 pitch Pujols swung at was not a pitch he usually goes after. That is what makes this all the more frustrating. He is the best hitter in baseball today. He can hit the ball out of the ball-park, slap a single through the hole, or lace a pitch into the gap. He should have been able to approach the at-bat as he would any other, and wait for his pitch. He is good enough to get a rally going by himself, which is why there was little reason to even think about adding risky fluff to the situation. Perhaps the idea was to get Craig to third on a Pujols single, meaning a well-placed groundball or sacrifice fly by Holliday could then plate a run. Even still, very strange.
This perplexing decision is a mere afterthought considering what happened in the ninth inning. St. Louis was down 4-2, with the heart of their order due up to face closer Neftali Feliz. Craig was up first and was fortuitously hit. The potential tying run was now Pujols.
St. Louis either needed a home-run or, at the very least, more base-runners. They couldn’t afford to lose Craig again. There was no way he would be sent again, right? Pujols has 445 homers in 11 years and just missed out on his 11th-straight 30-homer, 100-rbi season. Let him try to do what he does best.
Instead, the count was 3-2 when the nightmare recurred. This time, La Russa appeared to be behind the decision. Craig was running again. Pujols swung through the pitch again. Napoli gunned out Craig by a mile again. Same old story, bigger stage. It was inexplicable.
Sending Craig is perhaps the intelligent move if it is a one-run game, but to do so in this situation, even though Pujols rarely strikes out, is hard to fathom. Whatever the reason, La Russa was over-managing. Considering the hit-and-run was on, Pujols was expected to swing even in a full count. The pitch he swung at was outside, and not even close to being a strike. Would he have taken the pitch if the hit-and-run wasn’t on? That seems likely.
Matt Holliday followed this disaster by drawing a walk, and the running joke on Twitter was for La Russa to send him with Berkman–who eventually struck out–at the plate. That is how poor the Cardinals two base-running mistakes were, as two of many reasons why St. Louis is now at elimination’s brink.
