Carpenter hits walkoff homer on a cold night in 5-3 win over Brewers

It’s funny how the end of a game can change everything. Every little thing that went poorly, every missed opportunity, every strikeout, every time the bullpen gave the Brewers back the lead. All of that doesn’t matter anymore. A walkoff win solves everything. No Cardinals fans who watched that entire game are unhappy right now. You know how many Cardinals fans were frustrated while watching the game? Every single one of them. All that frustration is now gone.

I’m going to keep this recap short, because I want a celebration thread and because it’s late. Also most of the game was not particularly fun either. Both starters Carlos Martinez and Brent Suter allowed only one run, but neither really pitched all that well. Martinez really only had one good inning. It was the best inning a pitcher can possibly have granted. He struck out the 1-2-3 Brewers hitters in the 5th inning. Unfortunately, he walked the first batter in the 6th (though quickly got a double play ball and another groundout) and was taken out in the 7th when he gave up a single and walk before getting a single out.

The Cardinals meanwhile played most of this game behind. Eric Thames, the Brewers #2 hitter, hit a line drive homer in the 1st inning. It was 1-0 for a while. Brent Suter had a no-hitter going into the 5th inning. It wasn’t like he looked all that great doing it, though to be fair soft-tossing lefties never look impressive. Matt Carpenter walked in the 1st. Bet you didn’t know he has gotten on base every game this year so far. He has. Kolten Wong got on base from an error in the 3rd inning. There were a few hard hit outs from Dexter Fowler.

In the 5th with two outs, Wong did something that probably didn’t sit that well with the Brewers, but Kolten good job. Unwritten rules are dumb. He bunted for a hit with a no-hitter going. Wong is an extremely good bunter. He wanted to get on base and if that’s what you got to do, that’s what you got to do. Suter then allowed a single to Carlos and hit Fowler, but Paul DeJong is in the middle of a massive slump so he popped out.

The Cardinals loaded the bases again in the 6th, getting two singles off Suter (who allowed no hits through 4.2 and ended up with 4 hits allowed in 5.1 IP). Oliver Drake came in and walked Harrison Bader and Yairo Munoz to bring the Cardinals the first run. They got two men on in the 7th with nobody out, but failed to score.

The Brewers had their own missed opportunities. Martinez left with two men on and nobody out. In comes superhero Jordan Hicks. He got a quick strikeout, a slow groundout, an IBB to Thames, and a flyout by Santana. He got himself into trouble in the 8th, allowing two baserunners, but he got out of that inning unscathed as well.

Bud Norris got two quick outs, but Thames lined a double and Santana lined a single to give the Brewers a 2-1 lead in the 9th. Tommy Pham pinch-hit, walked, got sacrificed over, and scored from two straight wild pitches. Yes, the Cardinals went into extra innings thanks to walking with the bases loaded and two wild pitches after a walk. Matt Bowman gave up a run in the top of the 10th. He didn’t look bad, but Jett Bandy kept fouling everything off and ended up walking to put runners on 1st and 2nd, setting up the single that took the lead.

The Brewers brought in JJ Hoover, who I didn’t know was still in the MLB, but thank god he’s still in the MLB. With one out, Bader lined out to right, except it was a trap, except nope not according to the replay review. It looked like a trap, but I won’t dwell on that. Munoz walked, Jose Martinez pinch-hit and singled, and then..... Greg Garcia singled home a run. More extras.

A quick inning from Dominic Leone where he utterly dominated the Brewers 2-3-4 hitters (Thames, Santana, and Travis Shaw) set the Cards up nicely for the bottom with LOL Hoover returning for the 11th. And lo and behold Matt Carpenter hit a walk-off homer with DeJong on base. Cardinals win.

Notes

• I have one note: Cut that WOO shit out Cards fans attending Cards game. Please. WOO is acceptable in the comments of course.

Tomorrow, the Cardinals have a day game and try to win their second straight series against the Brewers. It’s on at 12:15 and features Adam Wainwright against Junior Guerra. I have no idea how that game will go. It is apparently on Facebook Live unfortunately.