SAN FRANCISCO — Cardinals manager Mike Matheny knew as well as anyone.
Turning to Michael Wacha with the season on the line after he had not pitched in 20 days was asking a lot.
Too much, as it turned out Thursday night at AT&T Park.
Entering in the bottom of the ninth with the score tied, Wacha served up a one-out, three-run homer to Travis Ishikawa that gave the Giants a 6-3 victory and ended the Cardinals' season in the fifth game of the National League Championship Series.
"That's on me," Matheny said. "I don't know if anybody could expect him to be as sharp as he normally would if he gets consistent time on the mound."
Wacha came out firing with a 96-mph fastball to cleanup hitter Pablo Sandoval that was called a strike. Sandoval then fouled off a 98-mph fastball, took a ball and singled to right field. After Wacha retired Hunter Pence on a fly to center, the young right-hander started to lose his command. He missed with four fastballs to Brandon Belt and then fell behind Ishikawa 2-0.
"We were trying to go in to Ishikawa and he missed the first two in," catcher Tony Cruz said. "Then we tried to go away and he missed in the middle."
Ishikawa didn't miss, knocking a no-doubt homer over the right-field seats that sent AT&T Park into celebratory mode and the Giants to the World Series for the third time in five seasons.
"Fell behind, he put a good swing on a 2-0 fastball and he hit it out," Wacha said.
Wacha had missed much of the season with a right shoulder injury before returning to make four abbreviated starts in September. He was put on the postseason roster for both rounds but had not been used. With rookie left-hander Marco Gonzales not available after pitching the past two days, Matheny said Wacha was his best option for the situation. Wacha had been told before the game to be ready, that his role as the extra-innings reliever could change for this one.
"It was more you're going to get thrown in there and you're going to get some important outs," Wacha said.
He refused to use his arm or the layoff as an excuse.
"I feel just as strong as I did last season," said Wacha, the breakout star of last October and the 2013 NLCS MVP. "Coming back from the injury, they gave me plenty of time. Arm's been feeling great. Body's been feeling great. I was ready to pitch."
But his command, not surprisingly, was lacking. "I couldn't imagine it would be easy," Cruz said about trying to pitch in such a big game after so much time off. "He hasn't pitched in a game, just sides and whatnot. Everyone knows it's not the same. He tried to step up."
"I've pitched in the postseason before," Wacha said. "I was ready for it. I just wasn't able to throw strikes."
Said Matheny after talking with Wacha postgame: "He's feeling like he let our team down. My response is, 'Hey man, I put you in a real tough spot, but that's the faith we have in you.'"
Starter Adam Wainwright, who pitched brilliantly for seven innings and left with a 3-2 lead, defended the decision.
"Whether he'd pitched in a while or not, you take your chances with your best athletes," Wainwright said. "There's nobody I'd rather have on the mound right there than Michael Wacha. He's one of the greatest competitors I've ever played with and he's amazingly talented. I can't wait to play with him for the next few years."
He just won't be playing alongside him anymore this season.
You can follow Stan McNeal on Twitter at @StanMcNeal or email him at stanmcneal@gmail.com.
