Cardinals beat SF to even series
Published 12:29 am Monday, October 13, 2014
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Kolten Wong hit a leadoff home run in the bottom of the ninth inning and the resilient St. Louis Cardinals beat the San Francisco Giants 5-4 Sunday night, evening the NL Championship Series at one game each.
The Cardinals won after losing All-Star catcher Yadier Molina to a strained oblique muscle in the sixth.
In a back-and-forth game, St. Louis then got late homers from rookie pinch-hitter Oscar Taveras and Matt Adams to take a 4-3 lead.
The Giants tied it when pinch-runner Matt Duffy dashed home from second base on a two-out wild pitch in the ninth.
Wong hit the second pitch from Sergio Romo for his second big home run this postseason. The rookie’s seventh-inning drive was the decisive blow in Game 3 of the NL Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
St. Louis, last in the NL with 105 home runs during the regular season, has hit 11 homers in six playoff games — seven in the seventh inning or later.
Seth Maness retired Pablo Sandoval on a comebacker with the bases loaded to end the top of the ninth, and got the win.
Maness came on after closer Trevor Rosenthal couldn’t hold a one-run lead. Rosenthal’s pitch bounced off the glove off backup catcher Tony Cruz and Duffy, running on a full count, never broke stride and slid home with the tying run.