The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Cards top Braves on walk-off
ST. LOUIS >> Yadier Molina pushed the St. Louis Cardinals to a deciding Game 5 of the NL Division Series, poking a tying single in the eighth inning and lifting a sacrifice fly in the 10th to beat the Atlanta Braves 5-4 Monday.
Molina slung his bat far into the outfield after his winner, and the crowd at Busch Stadium roared with the longtime heart of the franchise.
“An elite, special player, that’s what he is,” Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said.
Game 5 will be Wednesday back in Atlanta. The Cardinals will have ace Jack Flaherty on the mound, and the Braves will go with Mike Foltynewicz.
Kolten Wong led off the St. Louis 10th with a ground-rule double against Julio Teheran. After Paul Goldschmidt was intentionally walked, Wong advanced on Marcell Ozuna’s forceout and easily scampered home on Molina’s fly to the front of the warning track in left field.
Wong threw his hands in the air as he ran toward the plate.
Molina rounded first base with his bat in hand, then flung it away as the celebration erupted. The 37-year-old catcher discarded his batting helmet as the rest of the Cardinals poured onto the field.
Rays knock off Astros
Kevin Kiermaier hit a goahead, three-run homer as the Rays teed off on Zack Greinke, and the Rays backed another clutch playoff pitching performance by Charlie Morton to beat the Astros, 10-3, and cut their AL Division Series deficit to 2-1.
Facing the team he helped win the World Series two years ago, Morton allowed one run and three hits while striking out nine over five innings. The 35-year-old Morton is 4-0 with an 0.95 ERA in four career elimination starts, including last week’s wildcard win at Oakland.
Astros manager AJ Hinch announced after the game that Houston would start Justin Verlander on three days of rest in Game 4 in the best-of-five matchup at Tropicana Field on Tuesday.
Kiermaier got the wildcard Rays going with his shot the second inning. Ji-Man Choi and Brandon Lowe added solo shots off Greinke, who has never won in Tampa Bay, and Willy Adames added a solo blast against Wade Miley in the sixth. Tampa Bay’s four home runs matched a franchise record for a postseason game.
Nationals top Dodgers
When Dave Roberts took the ball out of Rich Hill’s hands, he turned it over to a bullpen full of question marks.
The Los Angeles manager turned to starter Kenta Maeda for a successful inning-plus of relief. Then Dodgers came apart.
Hill couldn’t make it out of the third inning, and a revolving assortment of relievers allowed five runs in a 6-1 loss to the Nationals in Game 4 that tied the NL Division Series at 2-2.
Pedro Báez gave up a three-run home run to Ryan Zimmerman in the fifth that busted open the game, and his teammates couldn’t crack Nationals ace Max Scherzer to close out the series.
Instead, the Dodgers will turn to Walker Buehler in a winner-take-all Game 5 on Wednesday back in Los Angeles and hope the young right-hander can continue his yearlong success in the biggest of pressure situations thus far. Buehler tossed six scoreless innings to beat the Nationals in Game 1.
With Los Angeles up 2-1 in the series, all options potentially were available for Roberts on Monday, including Clayton Kershaw, who closed out the Game 5 in 2017 to send the Dodgers to the NL Championship Series.