ST. LOUIS, 28 October 2006 — The St. Louis Cardinals moved within one victory of their first World Series title in 24 years with a dramatic 5-4 comeback win over the Detroit Tigers at Busch Stadium on Thursday.
David Eckstein drove in Aaron Miles for the game-winning run in the bottom of the eighth with a line drive that clipped the tip of diving left-fielder Craig Monroe’s glove.
St. Louis had battled back from a 3-0 deficit after three innings to win the game, taking a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven Fall Classic.
“We have to win three games in a row,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland said after the game.
“Can we do that? Absolutely. Are we in a good position? Absolutely not.” The Cardinals can clinch their first World Series title since 1982 with victory in Game Five the next day before their home fans.
A Tigers victory would send the Series back to Detroit for Game Six scheduled for today.
“We know how good the Tigers are,” St. Louis skipper Tony La Russa said after the three hour 35-minute game that was the most exciting of the Series so far. “Just come out tomorrow and play as good as you can, hard as you can, and see what happens.” The Tigers jumped into the lead with a solo home run by Sean Casey in the second and a two-run burst on run-scoring singles by Casey and Ivan Rodriguez in the third inning put them ahead 3-0.
The Cardinals scratched back with runs in the bottom of the third and the fourth, and took advantage of two slips by the Tigers in the seventh to score twice and seize a 4-3 lead.
The first break for St. Louis came when centerfielder Curtis Granderson fell on the wet turf racing back on a long fly by Eckstein that went for a double.
On the next play, reliever Fernando Rodney made a wild throw on So Taguchi’s sacrifice bunt, allowing Eckstein to dash home and Taguchi to scamper to second base. Taguchi then scored on Preston Wilson’s line drive single to left. Detroit came right back in the top of the eighth, tying the game 4-4 on doubles by Ivan Rodriguez and Brandon Inge.
The previously cold bats of two Tigers came alive Thursday with Rodriguez ending a 0-23 postseason slump with three hits and an RBI, and Granderson snapping an 0-14 skid with a double and a run scored in Detroit’s 10-hit attack.
Another unusual play set the stage for the Cards’ winner.
Hard-throwing reliever Joel Zumaya walked Yadier Molina on four pitches leading off the last of the eighth. Miles grounded to short and hustled down the baseline to beat the relay throw and avoid a potential double play.
Juan Encarnacion then struck out on a ball tumbling down out of the strike zone, but catcher Rodriguez had the wild pitch go under his mitt and through his legs allowing Miles to advance to second base.
That brought up the light-hitting Eckstein, who ripped a liner just out of reach of Monroe in left for the game-winner. It was Eckstein’s fourth hit of the game and second RBI.
Cardinals closer Adam Wainwright pitched 1.2 innings to finish the game, striking out three to claim the win. Zumaya took the loss.
“We had the misfortune of the play in center field, and of course the bunt play, we didn’t execute,” Leyland said. “This is the type of team that if you give them a little crack they take advantage of it.” St. Louis performed in the clutch, driving in four of their runs with two-out base hits. La Russa singled out the diminutive Eckstein for praise. “He’s the definition of a clutch player,” La Russa said.
“Game winning hit against a guy throwing 100 (mph). That’s all you need to know. A guy with that talent, he’s the toughest guy I’ve ever seen in uniform.”
In Game Five, Detroit will start rookie Game One loser Justin Verlander (17-9, 3.63 ERA in the regular season) against Cardinals’ Game Two loser Jeff Weaver, who was 5-4 with a 5.18 ERA after coming over in a trade with the Los Angeles Angels.
Meantime, a woman selling T-shirts accusing Detoit Tigers pitcher Kenny Rogers of cheating says Major League Baseball is trying to make a federal case over it.
Amy Spetner, a nurse and ardent St. Louis Cardinals fan, made the T-shirts with an image of Rogers and the controversial smudge on his hand that caused a furor in Game 2 of the World Series saying, “The Cards brought the heat. Detroit had to cheat.”
She said a major league official told her Wednesday to stop selling the shirts under threat of an FBI investigation and confiscated other shirts he said constituted trademark infringement because they said, “Go Cards.”
A call on Thursday to Bryan Day of MLB Properties, who left his business card with Spetner, was not returned.
Spetner, selling the T-shirts for $8 in the parking lot of a bar across the street from Busch Stadium, was still selling the shirt on Thursday and accused baseball of trying to cover up a scandal. The Game 2 controversy came when TV cameras showed a close-up of a dark smudge on Rogers’ pitching hand that disappeared after Cardinals’ manager Tony La Russa complained to umpires.
