Renteria Is King For A Day
By Rick Hummel Of The Post-Dispatch
June 27, 2004
The Cardinals and Kansas City Royals placed a total of 11 runners on base in the eighth and ninth innings Saturday night before a frenzied full house of 40,963 at Kauffman Stadium. But no matter what either team did, neither could nudge home the run that would break a 1-1 deadlock.
But in the 10th inning Edgar Renteria singled home Albert Pujols, then Mike Matheny brought home Renteria three batters later to give the Cardinals a 3-1 victory over their cross-state rivals.
Jason Isringhausen pitched the 10th for his 17th save in 21 chances and his second save in as many nights. Cardinals starter Woody Williams had won four of his past five starts and well could have won this one, too.
The veteran Williams was at his elusive best in pitching around most of eight hits, three walks and two wild pitches through eight innings while tossing a season-high 125 pitches. But Williams gained no decision because the Cardinals left the bases loaded in the eighth and, after the Royals had done the same in their half, the Cardinals stranded three more runners in the ninth when Kansas City lefthander Jeremy Affeldt was forced out with an apparent side injury.
So Taguchi, playing center field to allow injured Jim Edmonds to be the designated hitter, grounded out against righthander Rudy Seanez to end the threat in the ninth. With Julian Tavarez (2-0) relieving for the Cardinals in the bottom half, David DeJesus, who has consecutive two-hit games as the replacement for the traded Carlos Beltran, singled with one out and Tony Graffanino beat out an infield hit behind second despite a good play by Renteria at shortstop.
Then Mike Sweeney, who had had two singles, smashed a drive that Renteria snagged at the top of his glove and completed a double play by throwing to second.
After a perfect first -- one of only two 1-2-3 innings he had -- Williams ran into some trouble in the second when Matt Stairs and Joe Randa each singled with one out. But Taguchi managed to avoid trouble, making a tumbling catch on Dee Brown's fly ball as he missed running into right fielder Reggie Sanders.
Third baseman Scott Rolen saved his usual hit a game by charging Angel Berroa's slow roller for the third out.
Kansas City starter Dennys Reyes had allowed 19 earned runs in 23 innings over his previous four starts. But the burly, well-traveled lefthander handled the Cardinals, holding them to just four hits in seven innings.
Matheny, three for six in his career against Reyes, doubled to right center to start the Cardinals' third and John Mabry, though jammed, managed to fist a slow roller to the left of Reyes, who toppled to the ground to make an awkward play and nipped Mabry at first.
Tony Womack walked but Taguchi bounced to third baseman Randa, who started an inning-ending double play.
The Royals pushed another runner to third in their third, but Williams retired Sweeney on a grounder to second baseman Tony Womack.
Kansas City high school product Pujols doubled off the right- field wall to open the fourth, raising his career average against the Royals to .414. Though Rolen is leading the majors in runs batted in at 75, he went the other way with two strikes. His groundout moved Pujols to third from where he scored on a double by Renteria, who is having a down year in RBIs (31) but has delivered 11 of 13 runners from third with fewer than two outs.
Renteria stole third to give the Cardinals another one-out chance to score a runner from third, but Edmonds, serving as the designated hitter to rest his injured groin, took a third strike. Sanders walked, but Matheny bounced into a forceout and the Cardinals scored just one run in the inning.
Sanders let Stairs' liner get past him for a one-out triple in the Kansas City fourth. With Randa, a .362 lifetime hitter against the Cardinals, the next batter, it appeared the game would be tied. But Williams got Randa to pop out on the first pitch, grabbing the ball himself, and then fanned Brown on a half swing.
Again the Royals moved a runner to third with one out in the fifth. Berroa looped a singled to center, moved up on John Buck's sacrifice and went to third when catcher Matheny couldn't block a low pitch. Williams fanned DeJesus but couldn't wriggle out of this spot as Tony Graffanino singled to right to tie the score.
It almost got worse. Sweeney lined a single past Womack, sending Graffanino to third, but Rolen caught a soft liner by Ken Harvey for the third out.
Edmonds, taking it easy with his injury, didn't even try for second on a hit down the left-field line in the seventh. Manager Tony La Russa, observing a double turned into a single, pinch ran for Edmonds with Roger Cedeno.
But Cedeno wasn't fast enough to outrun a one-hop throw from rookie catcher Buck and was doubled up to end the inning as Matheny struck out.
The Cardinals then missed a huge chance in the eighth when they loaded the bases with two out on a single by Taguchi (he also stole second) and walks to Pujols and Rolen. But righthander Nate Field retired Renteria on a grounder to second baseman Graffanino.
The Royals had a similar opportunity, loading the bases against a tiring -- but enduring -- Williams with two outs. The final two runners were on because of bases on balls to Randa, who battled back from 0-2 in the count, and Brown.
Berroa then sent a tricky dribbler behind third where Rolen knocked the ball down, lurched toward the bag and dived to touch the base for a forceout ahead of the sliding Sweeney.
The Cardinals' ninth featured singles by Sanders and Matheny, a steal of third by Sanders, and a two-out walk to Womack. But it also included a three-pitch strikeout of pinch hitter Ray Lankford.
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