**Recapped over Papago Brewery Orange Blossom Beer**
This was such a weird game! I loved it! Basically, you guys, I love every game that we win. But this one was especially fun because of the schadenfreude involved.
Carlos Martinez started this game against Jake Peavy, who lately looks like your weird uncle who is still trying to act like he's part of the SoCal surfer crowd. Things were pretty quiet until the third inning. Randal Grichuk, batting 8th tonight, started the inning with a double, then Martinez got down a perfect bunt to move him over to third base. Matt Carpenter came up to bat next and - to no one's surprise - launched a base hit to score Grichuk. 1-0 Cardinals.
Things got kind of weird in the top of the fourth. With two out, Martinez walked Gregor Blanco. Jarrett Parker, who, you know, I have the utmost respect for, was up next, and reached for a 95-mph fastball off the plate and just...somehow...made a home run out of it. Even Martinez was like, "wut." It was one of the weirdest home runs I've ever seen! Parker barely made contact withe the ball off the end of the bat, yet somehow it ended up in the seats. 2-1 Giants.
Martinez, who had been doing well all night, save for that bizarro home run, got into real trouble in the sixth inning. He walked the first two hitters, who later advanced on a wild pitch, and a ground out by Brandon Crawford pushed a run across. 3-1 Giants.
Unlike last night, the 3-1 score didn't even bother me. I still felt like the Cardinals were going to win. Feels good to be right, you guys.
The bottom of the sixth inning was crazy. Carpenter started the inning with a double because of course he did. Aledmys Diaz followed with another double to score him. 3-2 Giants. Matt Holliday walked, then Stephen Piscotty was hit by a pitch. It was a scary moment that brought out the manager and the trainer, but luckily he was okay. So, if you're keeping track at home, the bases were loaded with no one out. Then Matt Adams hit a hard ground ball to first base that Brandon Belt could not even handle. Everyone is safe. Tie ballgame. Next comes Yadier Molina, who hit a ground ball to Crawford. It looked sure to be a double play ball, but Crawford couldn't get the ball out of his glove. Again, everyone is safe! 4-3 Cardinals. Greg Garcia grounded to second base next, but it was just enough to avoid the double play and score Piscotty. 5-3 Cardinals.
The Cardinals scored again in the eighth, after consecutive singles from Adams, Molina, and pinch-hitter Jedd Gyorko, and a ground out by Grichuk. The bullpen was great again, pitching scoreless seventh, eighth, and ninth innings, thanks to Jonathan Broxton, Kevin Siegrist, Oh, and Trevor Rosenthal.
Day 2 of WE ARE OFFICIALLY FREAKING OUT ABOUT ROSENTHAL: All clear! He allowed a lead off base hit that was really just a bleeder through third base and shortstop. The very next batter hit into a double play and the one after that grounded out. Cardinals win! Yea!