St. Louis scores 10 runs in the first inning and eliminates Atlanta in Game 5 of the NLDS.
St. Louis scores 10 in 1st inning, coasts in elimination game
With a stunning outburst their first time up, the St. Louis Cardinals scored 10 runs for the biggest opening inning in postseason history and dealt the Atlanta Braves another playoff heartbreak with a 13-1 rout in decisive Game 5 of the NL Division Series on Wednesday.
Before many fans had reached their seats, the Cardinals were already booking their plans for the NL Championship Series, where they will face either the Los Angeles Dodgers or the Washington Nationals in a best-of-seven set beginning Friday. Those teams were meeting in their own Game 5 on Wednesday at Dodger Stadium.
It will be St. Louis’ first NLCS trip since 2014.
“We know we can beat anyone at this point,” Kolten Wong said.
For the Braves, it might take a while to get over this debacle.
After pitching seven scoreless innings in a Game 2 win, Mike Foltynewicz retired only one hitter before getting yanked. First baseman Freddie Freeman made a crucial error that might have limited the damage. The Cardinals scored their final run of the inning on a strikeout — a wild pitch in the dirt that skipped away from catcher Brian Mccann, who announced his retirement after the game.
“We just strung together a bunch of great at-bats,” Wong said.
It was Atlanta’s 10th straight postseason round loss since its last victory 18 long years ago, tying the ignominious mark set by the Chicago Cubs between 1908 and 2003.
“Everything went wrong,” Freeman said.
St. Louis leadoff man Dexter Fowler batted three times before the bottom of Atlanta’s order got its first looks, and the Cardinals made several changes after their 10-spot in what might’ve been the first set of defensive changes ever made by a team before its opponent had batted. There was no need to worry about any more offense with Jack Flaherty on the mound, coming off one of the great second halves by a starting pitcher in baseball history.
“We took the crowd out of it,” Fowler said. “We knew Folty would try to get ahead of us. We were trying to get some good pitches to hit. It was a little easier to see the ball today.”
The 23-year-old Flaherty had not given up more than three runs in 15 starts after the All-star break, posting a 0.91 ERA. The right-hander certainly wasn’t going to let this massive lead get away, though Josh Donaldson — in perhaps his final game with the Braves — gave the fans a brief reason to cheer in a 13-0 game when he homered over the center-field wall in the fourth.
Manager Mike Shildt let Flaherty throw 104 pitches over six innings, surrendering four hits and that lone run for the first postseason win of his blossoming career. Flaherty loaded the bases in the fifth after drilling Ronald Acuna Jr. with a fastball, but induced an inning-ending groundout from Freeman.
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The Cardinals went 4-3 vs. the Dodgers during the regular season and posted a 5-2 edge over Washington in their season series.