Baserunning gaffes burn Cardinals in extra-inning loss to Tigers
ST. LOUIS -- The Cardinals have preached all season the importance of alert, aggressive baserunning to keep the pressure on opponents and take extra bases when available.
At their best, they've forced mistakes and manufactured runs that are critical to a team with a penchant for close games. But on Saturday, St. Louis paid a heavy price for some poor reads on the basepaths and great defense from Detroit in a 4-3, 10-inning loss at Busch Stadium.
The Cardinals' eighth come-from-behind win in 17 games looked well within reach despite a short, shaky outing from left-hander Tyler Lyons. Another impressive performance from Carlos Villanueva began 5 2/3 scoreless innings by the bullpen before J.D. Martinez drew a leadoff walk and scored against Matt Belisle in the 10th.
Shortstop Jhonny Peralta's solo home run in the sixth inning tied the game at three, and back-to-back doubles should have given the Cardinals the lead in the seventh. Pinch hitter Jason Heyward sent a sharply hit ball down the left-field line off David Price, and right fielder Randal Grichuk just missed a home run on a high flyball off the wall in left-center.
As Tigers left fielder Yoenis Cespedes turned and ran back toward the warning track, Heyward cautiously moved toward third, before returning to second base. Cespedes quickly retrieved the ball and got it back to the infield, where Heyward had advanced only to third base.
"As I saw the play develop, I looked at the ball, checked the outfielder and I was thinking to myself, 'This is so high I think it's either going to be gone or caught at the wall,'" said Heyward, who leads the Cardinals with 12 runs in May. "I saw (Cespedes) breaking down and I'm thinking he's going to make a catch here, so let's get back and tag and not be stuck on second base."
Price made the most of Heyward's rare miscue by striking out third baseman Matt Carpenter, then getting left fielder Matt Holliday to pop out to second to end the inning with Heyward and Grichuk still in scoring position.
It didn't take long for the Cardinals to create another chance, but it disappeared just as quickly.
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Peralta drew a leadoff walk in the eighth and pinch runner Pete Kozma moved to second on a wild pitch, setting the stage for Mark Reynolds with no outs. The first baseman popped up near the St. Louis dugout in foul territory on the right side and Kozma decided to test the arm of first baseman Miguel Cabrera.
"I didn't think he would have enough room. I thought the ball was on the rail," Kozma said. "I looked at the video and he wasn't, but either way he's going away from the bag. I haven't seen him make that throw until today. Now I know he can make it."
Cabrera, a former third baseman, spun and fired the ball to Nick Castellanos at third, easily beating Kozma for the second out. Even though the play looked ugly -- especially after catcher Yadier Molina's two-out single to center -- Matheny said Kozma made the right decision.
The Cardinals got one more chance in the 10th inning, when Holliday led off with a hard-hit ball into the gap in right-center. He sped up as he rounded first and center fielder Rajai Davis cut it off, then threw the ball well ahead of Holliday to second base.
"We've got to push it," Matheny said in reference to Kozma's decision to try to advance to third. "We've got to keep going. Holliday coming out of the box, same thing. He's got to be thinking double."
Instead, the Cardinals lost for the sixth time in 12 one-run games this season and will come back tomorrow looking to avoid being swept for the first time this year.
You can follow Luke Thompson on Twitter at @FS_LukeT or email him at lukegthompson87@gmail.com.
