The St. Louis Cardinals edged out the San Francisco Giants on Kolton Wong’s walk-off home run to take Game 2 of the National League Championship Series 5-4 tonight. The Cardinals’ win tied the series at 1-1.
Both the Giants and the Cardinals brought their respective styles to the yard, getting their runs in very different manners.
St. Louis started off the scoring with third baseman Matt Carpenter hitting a solo home run in the third inning. They rallied again in the fourth, and a bases loaded single by right fielder Randal Grichuk made it 2-0. Giants’ starter Jake Peavy left after the fourth inning, giving up two runs on four hits and striking out two.
The Giants, as in previous games, relied on small ball for their offense. In the fifth, after a single and a double, Joaquin Arias pinch hit for Peavy, and with one out grounded out to second, bringing in a run.
In the sixth inning, third baseman Pablo Sandoval doubled and right fielder Hunter Pence singled him home to make it 2-2.
In the seventh, things started to go crazy.
Shortstop Brandon Crawford led off the top of the inning with a four pitch walk. That brought up pinch-hitter Michael Morse for his first plate appearance in a month. Morse hit an infield single, and a beautiful sacrifice bunt by left fielder Juan Perez made it runners on first and third with only one out. With the infield in, center fielder Gregor Blanco hit a groundball through the infield to give the Giants a 3-2 lead. It wouldn’t last.
In the bottom of the inning, Cardinals’ pinch-hitter Oscar Taveras hit a solo shot off of reliever Jean Machi to tie the game. Then, in the eighth inning, first baseman Matt Adams hit another solo shot, this one off of Hunter Strickland, to give the Cardinals a 4-3 lead.
In the top of the ninth, the Giants were down to their last out with runners on first and second. On a 3-2 pitch, pinch-runner Matt Duffy took off from second. The ball was in the dirt, got past backup catcher Tony Cruz, and Duffy rounded third and scored the tying run. The Giants loaded the bases again, but couldn’t cash in, and took a 4-4 score into the bottom of the ninth.
The Giants put in Sergio Romo, and Wong put the second pitch of the inning over the right field fence to send the Cardinals fans home happy.
The series now moves to San Francisco. The next game will be on Tuesday at 1 p.m. The Giants will send out Tim Hudson, who pitched brilliantly in the NLDS, to face John Lackey.