Toronto Blue Jays Chris Coghlan flys over St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina, scoring the go-ahead run in the seventh inning at Busch Stadium in St. Louis on April 25, 2017. Coghlan scored from first base on a triple by Kevin Pillar. Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI
Chris Coghlan’s circus-like tumble over the head of Yadier Molina was the big highlight of the night, but the low moment for St. Louis came when Toronto pitcher Marcus Stroman doubled as pinch hitter in the 11th inning and later scored on a throwing error by Aledmys Diaz, the Cardinals’ fourth error of the night. His double and first major league hit helped lead the Blue Jays’ past the Redbirds in a 6-5 final on Tuesday night.
Toronto took the lead in the seventh on a play that Coghlan called “instinct.”
It was 2-2 in the seventh and after Coghlan walked, he tried to score from first on a ball hit into the right field corner by Kevin Pillar. Stephen Piscotty chased it down after it went over his head. The ball bounced back toward the infield far enough for Piscotty to make the throw home himself. The throw came up the line and Molina was bent over getting the ball off the hop.
Coghlan somersaulted over Yadi and landed on the plate.
The Cardinals battled tying the game up in the ninth when Dexter Fowler’s two-out infield single off Roberto Osuna made it a 5-5 game–the third time St. Louis tied the game. Jose Martinez tied the game with his first homer, a two run shot to right in the 7th, making it a 4-4 game.
However, it was his failure to come off the base in the 11th that led to the Diaz error. If he comes off the bag and catches the ball, the Jays have runners and first and third instead of the go-ahead run scoring.
Mike Matheny didn’t have much to say on the four errors.
“We still have a long way to go, and we need to clean up things on a consistent basis,” manager Mike Matheny said. “That’s it.”