ST. LOUIS — At Oracle Park last night, the St. Louis Cardinals pulled off one of the most dramatic comebacks of the season, defeating the San Francisco Giants 9-8, thereby keeping their chances in the battle for a Wild Card ticket. On a snowy night of history, Brendan Donovan – who had just returned from injury – used four doubles to write his name in the team record books and make fans’ hearts explode with excitement.
Donovan had been held out of the lineup for the previous two games because of a sore groin, but he insisted to the manager: “I can move well, I want to play.” And he did: four trips to the plate, four doubles, one RBI, one run, contributing significantly to bringing the Cardinals from behind to get back in the game.
In the tense ninth inning, when the Giants seemed certain to win, Alec Burleson – who was considered by the management as a future pillar of the team – hit the winning shot, putting the home team up 9-8.
Riley O’Brien, on the other hand, shut down Wilmer Flores with a decisive strikeout, capping off an unforgettable dramatic night.
Before that night, the Cardinals had been in a slump with only three wins in their last ten games.
But this win was like a mental “reset”: from the pressure of elimination, to renewed confidence. With this victory, they maintained a 3.5-game lead over the New York Mets in the Wild Card race, with only four more games to prove their mettle.
Explaining after the game, Donovan said, a little tired: “This game is sometimes strange — I wasn’t 100% today, but when you have an opportunity, you have to take it.”
Burleson, while humbled: “He’s the one who brought us home. That hit continued the story that the team was trying to tell.”
Last night was not just a victory, but also a challenge to the doubters: The Cardinals were not yet defeated. The storm had not passed, but they had proven that in baseball, belief and determination – sometimes – are enough to create seismic changes.
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