ST. LOUIS -- Throwing more balls than strikes when the count has exceeded 100 pitches generally is not a recipe for victory. But Cardinals lefthander Kwang Hyun Kim, exiting the 10-day injured list following his recovery from his second lower back injury of the spring, managed to keep his team in the game Tuesday night at Busch Stadium despite throwing only 49 strikes out of 102 offerings.
That was because Kim forced the Miami Marlins to strand six runners in the first three innings before he sped through his final three innings. The Cardinals, who had only one hit off lefthanded rookie Trevor Rogers in the first five innings, packaged two hits, a stolen base and Rogers’ error for a run in the sixth to tie the score.
Then, for the second night in succession, the Cardinals broke a tie in their final at-bat as Paul Goldschmidt, who had knocked in the first run, crushed his ninth homer to right center to lead off the ninth against Yimi Garcia to provide a 2-1 walk-off win for the Cardinals before 24,736, the Cardinals’ second-best home crowd of season.
As they did on Monday night, the back three of the Cardinals’ bullpen — Genesis Cabrera, Giovanny Gallegos and Alex Reyes — posted a scoreless inning apiece and none gave up a hit, with Reyes gaining his fourth victory.
Kim walked three and allowed a single but no runs over the first two innings.
But right fielder Lane Thomas, a late replacement for Tommy Edman, who was a late scratch with what was labeled “right trunk tightness,” made a good running catch on Starling Marte’s potential hit near the foul line in the first. And, in the second, Thomas ranged near the track to pull in a drive by Jazz Chisholm Jr. with two men and two out.
The Marlins scored in the third and could have had more due to some lax throwing by Cardinals outfielders. After Marte drew Kim’s fourth walk, Jesus Aguilar singled to left center, with Marte taking third. Center fielder Dylan Carlson gloved the ball to his right but, wheeling around, fired the ball over the head of shortstop Paul DeJong and Aguilar belatedly dived into second as third baseman Nolan Arenado retrieved the errant sphere near the pitcher’s mound.
Adam Duvall singled to left to score Marte but when Tyler O’Neill’s throw came all the way to catcher Yadier Molina as the slow-running Aguilar held third, Duvall made second.
But, Kim, who threw only 26 strikes out of his first 59 pitches, then got ground balls to Arenado, second baseman Edmundo Sosa and DeJong, and the Marlins runners were stranded at second and third when it could have been so much more for Miami.
Marlins lefthander Trevor Rogers, a strong early Rookie of the Year candidate at 7-3 and 1.98 earned run average, ripped through the Cardinals in hitless fashion for three innings. O’Neill walked to lead off the second but was gobbled up trying to steal second as Molina struck out.
Carlson singled to left center for the first Cardinals’ hit to start the fourth. But he didn’t move off first as Goldschmidt flied out, Arenado popped up and O’Neill fanned.
By this time, Kim had turned his game around. In spite of throwing only 49 strikes out of 102 pitches through six frames, he still trailed 1-0 as he registered five of his six strikeouts in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings.
Finally, the Cardinals caught up in the sixth on a two-out single to right by Goldschmidt, who has looked much better the past couple of days. Rogers helped a little.
Jose Rondon, hitting for Kim, singled to left with one out and took off for second on a steal attempt. Rogers threw behind Rondon at first but the toss was well low and wide of Aguilar and Rondon wound up at third.
Carlson struck out after an extended at-bat and Goldschmidt plated a runner from third for the second night in succession. He, too, stole second but Arenado flied to deep center.
In the eighth, Cardinals manager Mike Shildt tried something that Miami manager Don Mattingly had attempted the night before. He sent up a pitcher as a pinch hitter to try to bunt a runner or runners into scoring position.
Both ended in double-play disasters.
After DeJong had beaten a shift with a single to center and Thomas had been credited with a bunt hit when third baseman Isan Diaz declined to throw to first base when he had a sure out, Adam Wainwright, Monday’s starter for the Cardinals, came off the bench.
Wainwright bunted to the left side but Diaz hopped on this one, fired to shortstop Chisholm for a force at third and when Wainwright was doubled at first. Carlson then struck out for the second time in succession.
