It had been nearly 60 years since the St. Louis Cardinals last won a game in the Bronx, but that drought came to an end.
A late inning rally fell short as the Yankees dropped a 6-5 decision to the Redbirds Saturday afternoon at Yankee Stadium.
The Cardinals were 0-7 in interleague play at Yankee Stadiums II and III. The last time that they won a game in the Bronx was October 12, 1964 when they beat the Yankees, 5-2 in ten innings of game five of the 1964 World Series.
Tim McCarver’s three run home run in the top of the tenth decided that game. A three run homer by Brendan Donovan in the top of the third proved to be the key blow in this one.
The Yankees recent spate of mistakes (some that have not necessarily been scored as errors) have been costly and a couple of those miscues contributed to the result.
Rookie Will Warren got through two innings unscathed and had a 1-0 lead but he walked the #9 hitter, Victor Scott, to start the third inning.
Masyn Wynn hit a ground ball to second that should’ve been an easy double play, but Anthony Volpe bobbled the ball on the relay throw after getting the out at second and failed to complete the twin killing. From there, the Cardinals had four straight hits off of Warren to take a 4-1 lead.
The next batter, left hand hitting Alec Burleson poked a single down the left field line, sending Wynn to third. Warren got ahead of Nolan Arenado but couldn’t put him away and on the seventh pitch of the at bat, the 8-time All Star third baseman lined a run scoring single to center to tie the game.
Donovan took full advantage of the dimensions at Yankee Stadium when he drove a hanging change up into the short porch down the right field line for a three run homer and a 4-1 lead.
“The homer wasn’t hit all that hard but obviously to the right spot here,” Manager Aaron Boone said.
Paul Goldschmidt followed with a double down the left field line but further damage was avoided as he was thrown out at home by left fielder Alex Verdugo on a two out single by Ivan Herrera.
Cardinals starter Kyle Gibson came into the game with a 2-7 record and a 6.96 ERA (including one playoff appearance) against the Yankees but he tossed seven strong innings, giving up one run on five hits with no walks and six strikeouts.
The only run against Gibson came in the second on an RBI single by Volpe that scored Austin Wells who led off the inning with a double.
Warren gave up four runs in four innings pitched so the Yankees had to go to the bullpen. Tim Hill pitched a scoreless fifth inning but Mark Leiter Jr continues to struggle as he gave up two runs, one earned, in the sixth that proved to be the winning margin.
With one out, back to back doubles by Lars Nootbar and Herrera made it a 5-1 game. With Jordan Walker at the plate and an 0-2 count, Leiter bounced one in the dirt that bounded away from Wells, who retrieved the ball and tried to get an out at third. The throw went way past Jazz Chisholm at third, allowing Herrera to score what proved to be a hugh sixth run.
The Yankees bounced back in the eighth with a two out rally that produced four runs to cut the Cardinals’ lead to a single run.
Matthew Liberatore relieved Gibson to start the eighth. Gleyber Torres led off with a single but was erased when Juan Soto bounced into a 3-6-1-5 double play.
With two out, Aaron Judge and Wells singled and Chisholm grounded a ball up the middle that was knocked down by Wynn for an infield hit to load the bases.
Volpe hit a slow roller down the third base line to score Judge with the second run. With Trent Grisham due up, Boone sent up Giancarlo Stanton as a pinch hitter and the Cardinals responded by bringing on Andrew Kittredge.
The phrase, “baseball is a game of inches,” came to light when Stanton lined a bases clearing double to dead center field on the first pitch from Kittredge that missed by inches of being a game tying grand slam. Ben Rice pinch ran for Stanton but Verdugo’s ground out ended the threat.
The Cardinals went to their closer, Ryan Helsley, who brought a Major League leading 41 saves into the ninth.
Lead off batter Oswaldo Cabrera was called for his second pitch clock violation of the season on a 3-2 count that resulted in a strikeout. It’s a violation on the batter when he is not ready to hit and “alert to the pitcher” with 8 seconds left on the clock. Cabrera quickly jumped into the batter’s box but it was ruled that he was not ready and was called out.
“I know Helsley was off and I saw Cabby [Cabrera] jump, hurrying to get in so I guess he wasn’t engaged by 8 seconds,” Boone said. “We know the rules, we’ve all played with them now for a couple of years, so it’s on all of us.”
“At that moment, I have to get better on that because that happened twice in this year. Obviously, I have to get better with it,” Cabrera said.
To his credit, Cabrera held himself accountable for a costly play. “I thought that I was on time and I don’t know if I was or not but at the same time, it’s my fault so I have to get better on that situation and those things with the rules,” he said.
With two out, Soto doubled into the right field corner. With first base open, the Cardinals intentionally walked Judge to pitch to Wells, who had been hot. The Yankee catcher ran the count to 3-2, but struck out on a slider to end a frustrating afternoon for the home team.
As they head into September, the Yankees are a first place team.
“It’s not been easy, but we’re in a great position. We’re sittin’ atop the division, best record or right around there in the league,” Boone said. “It’s definitely been a grind for us, but I’ve said it’s right there for the taking. Excited for this final push and hopefully set ourselves up to get to play in October.”
On Sunday, the Yankees will complete a 27-game stretch where they faced teams under .500 in 24 of those games. So far, they’ve only posted a 14-12 mark.
If they go on to lose the AL East, they’ll also lament the fact that they could’ve played better at home (37-30) this season.