ST. LOUIS — One of the storylines to this Cardinals’ season has been their inability to come up with a big hit when they needed it, especially with a runner in scoring position.
At least for one game, that wasn’t the case on Wednesday night at Busch Stadium.
Locked in a 1-1 game with the Reds, Paul Goldschmidt doubled off the center field wall to drive in Michael Siani in the eighth inning and give the Cardinals the win over the Reds.
Goldschmidt’s hit came in the Cardinals’ first at-bat with a runner on second or third since the first inning.
Ryan Helsley only needed eight pitches to retire the Reds in the ninth and earn his league-leading 44th save.
Despite the win, the Cardinals remained 6 ½ games of the final wild-card spot and now have just 17 games left in the regular season.
Here is how Wednesday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: The Cardinals’ first run came on Nolan Arenado’s home run with one out in the fourth, his 16th of the season … Arenado had grounded into a double play to end the first inning, stranding Masyn Winn on third base … After the homer the Cardinals had only one hit, an infield single by Jordan Walker in the seventh, before Siani led off the eighth with a single. He stole second and after Masyn Winn struck out and Alec Burleson was hit by a pitch, he scored from second on Goldschmidt’s double.
On the mound: Lance Lynn was activated from the injured list (knee inflammation) and worked five innings in his first start since July 30. He allowed the only Reds run on five hits, walked one and struck out seven. His best inning was the third, when the first two batters singled and after a stolen base put the runners on second and third, Lynn struck out the next three batters … The combination of Matthew Liberatore, Andrew Kittrede, JoJo Romero and Helsley retired all 12 batters they faced.
Key stat: The double by Goldschmidt was only his sixth extra-base hit (four doubles, two homers) in 148 plate appearances with a runner in scoring position this season. He does have a hit in seven of his last 12 at-bats with a runner on second or third.
Worth noting: With a 2-of-4 night, Goldschmidt raised his average since Aug. 24 to .426 (26-of-61) with 10 doubles and 10 RBIs in that 16-game stretch. The hot streak has raised his season average from .226 to .248 … When he completed the fourth inning, Lynn surpassed 2,000 innings pitched in his career, the sixth active pitchers in the majors to reach that milestone … To make room for Lynn on the roster, Chris Roycroft was optioned to Memphis.
Looking ahead: Sonny Gray will get the start in the 12:15 p.m. game on Thursday that will conclude the three-game series.
