St. Louis Cardinals Tony Cruz (R) celebrates his game winning RBI single in the 13th inning with teammates against the MIlwaukee Brewers at Busch Stadium in St. Louis on September 18, 2014. St. Louis won the game 3-2. UPI/Bill Greenblatt
Tony Cruz singled up the middle with one out for the third hit of the 13th against Jimmy Nelson, scoring Matt Adams from second and giving the Cardinals an improbable 3-2 win over the Brewers. The Cardinals keep pace with Pittsburgh, who won their fourth in a row.
The Cardinals were down 2-0 heading into the bottom of the eighth, but a mental mistake gave the Cardinals the opening they needed and they took advantage.
Watch the game winner from Tony Cruz (VIDEO/MLB.com)
Brewers first baseman Mark Reynolds stepped on first on a grounder by A.J. Pierzynski thinking there were already two outs instead of trying to turn a double play. That kept the inning alive.
Four straight Cardinals batters got on base off Jonathan Broxton with two outs in the eighth to tie it. Jon Jay had an RBI single, and Matt Adams walked with the bases-loaded to tie the game 2-2. Matt Holliday started the rally with a headfirst dive into first for an infield hit. I think that’s the first time I’ve ever seen that work to the runner’s advantage. That call was overturned after the Cardinals asked for a replay review.
The Brewers didn’t go down without a fight and had several chances to take the lead in extras. The bullpen bent, but didn’t break.
The Brewers left two on in the 10th against Pat Neshek and loaded the bases with two outs in the 11th against Carlos Martinez, who struck out Carlos Gomez. He then got Ryan Braun with a man on second to end the 12th.
