First and foremost, Cardinals oust Braves
St. Louis’ record-breaking opening inning sinks Atlanta
ATLANTA — The St. Louis Cardinals turned the diamond into a giant pinball machine, dinging hits all over SunTrust Park.
By the time the Atlanta Braves finally got the third out, it was the most productive first inning in postseason history.
The Cardinals scored 10 runs their first time up and dealt Atlanta another playoff heartbreak, routing the Braves 13-1 in decisive Game 5 of the NL Division Series on Wednesday.
“That was crazy,” said Marcell Ozuna, one of five players who batted twice in the stunning outburst. “We got a good opportunity — and we took it.”
Before many fans had reached their seats, the Cardinals were already booking their plans for the NL Championship Series, where they will face the Washington Nationals in a best-of-seven set beginning Friday in St. Louis. 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 booted a potential double-play ball 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 after the game that he’s retiring.
It was Atlanta’s 10th straight postseason round loss since its last victory 18 long years ago, tying the mark set by the Chicago Cubs between 1908 and 2003.
Carrying on the tradition that started at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, moved on to Turner Field and is now becoming an annual occurrence at SunTrust Park, it was a visiting team that got to celebrate in the A-T-L.
For the 13th time in 21 postseason appearances since moving to Atlanta, the Braves finished the year with a loss at home.
“It was more of a shock than anything,” said Atlanta’s Josh Donaldson. “You don’t expect something like that to happen, especially with how well we played all season.”
Tommy Edman, Dexter Fowler and Wong all had two-run doubles as St. Louis equaled the highest-scoring inning in postseason history, a record set by the Philadelphia Athletics against the Chicago Cubs in the 1929 World Series. It was matched by the Detroit Tigers (1968 World Series vs. St. Louis), the Anaheim Angels (2002 ALCS vs. Minnesota) and, now, the Cardinals. No team had ever scored 10 runs in the very first inning of a postseason game.