Renteria Seals Grand Day For Cards
By Jared Hoffman / MLB.com
July 29, 2002
ST. LOUIS -- Former Cardinals pitcher Joaquin Andujar once said there was one word that best described baseball: "You never know."
That "one" word best summed up the Cardinals' 10-9 victory over the Cubs on Sunday that featured a walk-off, three-run homer from Edgar Renteria before a sold-out crowd at Busch Stadium.
The Cardinals had their ace Matt Morris on the mound but fell behind 6-0 after three innings. St. Louis closed the gap to 6-4 in the sixth but that rally was short-circuited when Eduardo Perez grounded into a double play to end the inning.
The Cubs came right back with two runs off reliever Steve Kline and another in the eighth off Dave Veres to make it 9-4 in favor of the Cubs -- the sort of insurance runs that put a comeback victory in mothballs for a future game.
"In the eighth inning, I saw a lot of people get up and leave," said Morris. "And then Mike Matheny said, 'They're going to miss a great comeback.' You know you're just saying that with hope. You don't know what's going to happen, but that's baseball."
What happened in the ninth was the Cardinals practiced what manager Tony La Russa preaches -- don't give away an at-bat. Fernando Vina started the inning with an infield single on a 2-2 pitch from Tom Gordon. Pinch-hitter Miguel Cairo had two strikes on him and then doubled in Vina.
Jim Edmonds kept it going with a single. Antonio Alfonseca came in the game and walked Albert Pujols, who fouled off a 3-2 pitch before getting ball four.
After J.D. Drew struck out looking, Tino Martinez ripped a single to right to make it 9-7 and set the stage for Renteria's heroics.
"When he got J.D. I went 'Ohhh!'" said La Russa. "I really thought J.D. was going to do something productive, but Tino did what he had to do. The first pitch, he had a very aggressive swing, and then when he got another one, he rifled it. In those situations, you got to be ready to swing."
Renteria, who already had two hits in the game and has been one of the Cardinals' -- and the National League's -- hottest hitters this month, came up in his favorite situation: one with pressure.
"This game you can do a lot of things," said Renteria. "I'm comfortable because I don't try to do too much. I was looking for something I could hit and something to drive in the run from third base."
Renteria did that, and for extra measure went ahead and drove in Martinez from first and himself to give the Cardinals one of their most thrilling comeback victories in recent seasons and extend their lead in the NL Central to five games over Cincinnati.
"The way to describe [Renteria] is a winning player," said La Russa. "He's not afraid to catch the ball in the ninth. He's having a great year."
With three more hits Sunday, Renteria has a seven-game hitting streak in which he is hitting .500 (15-for-30), and he's hitting .441 (30-for-68) since the All-Star break. For the season, Renteria is hitting .380 (38-for-100) with runners in scoring position.
Renteria's homer capped the comeback while almost everyone in the lineup helped the team get to that point.
"One thing this club proves over and over again is that they have the heart of a champion," said La Russa. "I don't know if we're going to be the champion or not, but we have the heart of a champion."
Sunday's victory means the Cardinals will have a happy day off before heading to Florida for the start of a six-game road trip against the Marlins and Braves.
"It rejuvenates you," said Morris. "It makes you believe in comebacks like this."
And it also jogs the memory of those who had forgotten the Cardinals had already shown the ability to rally from a huge deficit when they beat the Reds 10-8 on May 12 after being down 8-0.
"We have enough talent that we have a way to win some games," said La Russa. "I mean I definitely wasn't going to bet on it."
But then again, as the Cardinals proved Sunday, you never know.
Back to 2002 Articles Page