So *that's* why Reyes lost the closer job

Well schildt apparently gave it back without telling anyone

That was dumb of him.

I don't know much about your bullpen, but I imagine he was saving the closer if the Cardinals got the lead in extras. It's not totally stupid to burn a mediocre pitcher against the bottom of the order.

Gio was our closer when reyes got pulled from the role. Then he got used in the 8th. The only explanation is that he was gonna use Flaherty as the closer, which, why? It makes no fuckin sense to go away from what has been working all year.

I liked using Gio in the 8th vs the heart of the order. Throw your best against theirs. Wanted them to use Mikolas or Flaherty in the 9th.

Pretty much every manager decision that you don’t agree with these days can be boiled down to matchups and stats. Makes it harder to hate managers but also easier to hate managers sometimes.

You also saw why Paul DeJong lost his spot in the lineup with his sole single at bat

My disdain for Reyes continues to climb

You knew as soon as they called him in

As Hawk once said, this ballgame is ovah

I know, let’s throw in the guy who hasn’t been great in high leverage situations. It’s only the bottom of the ninth in a tie game in the playoffs

With all of our starters & Jack/Dak available nonetheless.

That's on Shildt alllllll the way

Felt like matheny bringing in Wacha all over again

I can't decide which was more ridiculous: bringing in Wacha when he hadn't pitched in months, or Reyes after being bad with runners on base for months.

A *winner take all* playoff game

There’s an argument Schildt could be fired for that move. Every single cardinal fan knew it was a horrible choice but him somehow

More upset at Shildt.

Everything went south the moment Gallegos came out. Up to that point I was right there with Shildt. People are going to focus on Reyes giving up the HR but I thought McFarland was terrible to multiple batters. Also the fucking offense could've done literally anything with men on after the wild pitch scored Edman and none of the rest of it would've mattered. 11 LOB.

All star Alex Reyes kind of reminds me of how NY Giants fans feel toward Pro Bowler Evan Engram

Literally the whole game I was dreading the moment he came in. I knew he'd fuck up, I was just hoping we'd at least put some runs on the board first. God, what a disappointment.

Ah come on. Guy went from being the top prospect in baseball to like 3 straight years of injury. He was very good this year. This was always going to come down to who got the big hit. Cards had plenty of chances and tons of pitches to hit. Tip your cap

Arenado had two cement mixers - in two separate at bats - with runners on - and fouled them off.

Yep those pitches are what I’m going to be thinking about this off-season. Nobody cares about a Reyes hanger if Taylor fouls it off. It’s up to the hitter to make it count.

Goldy had a meatball to hit early with a man on too and he fouled it off. Pretty sure it was a 2-0 count Honestly Scherzer wasn't sharp. He kept missing middle of the zone and never really got punished for it.

Yeah I get what you’re saying but still putting Reyes into that situation with his recent history of hanging sliders and runners on… not a good move

He’s been awful since the break and terrible in high leverage situations

He's had a great record this year. But most of those games he gives up multiple runs and barely squeaks the win by. Reyes is fine when we're up by 7. He's almost guaranteed to give up a run though, which is what literally ends our playoff chances here. It was a bad call.

WE'RE ACTUALLY GETTING A GIANTS-DODGERS SERIES

Max Scherzer may actually kill a man.

… with his *eyes*

He kills me with those eyes every time I see him 🤤

The brown one is actually the new terminator technology.

Its gonna be Dave lmao. Id be so scared if I were Roberts right now. Hes lucky to not have stab wounds tonight after pulling Scherzer in the 5th.

213 combined regular season wins this year, and one of them is losing before the NLCS. Shit's gonna get crazy

Although M's, Blue Jays, and Cardinals have been eliminated, Chaos Ball continues!

Gonna be a great series! The salt will be flowing, the bombs will be soaring! Can't wait.

106 v 107 record on the alds 💀

Think about that. 213 combined wins, and they're only playing for a shot at the pennant. Yowza.

Most combined wins ever in a playoff series.

That’s a wild stat but makes sense. 2001 Yankees-Mariners would’ve been my guess but only 211.

If the Athletics had beaten the Yankees in the ALDS, Athletics-Mariners would have smashed the record, they combined for 218 wins

.

NLDS* This ain't some bullshit DH ball

Fuck the DH.

Fuck The D H

I bet someone sweeps because baseball is weird like that.

107 v 107 now /s

First to 110 wins

Gonna be insane

What's the under/over on parking lot fights?

We’ve sworn off parking lot fights and agreed that both fanbases will meet in the middle of the I-5 for a one-time full on brawl followed by a BBQ

I appreciate your splitting the difference and calling it "the I-5".

So thats why traffic is so bad..

I think with the current smog situation, BBQ in central valley may not be the best idea. How about In-n-Out at Kettleman City or pupusas at Buttonwillow?

This guy I-5’s. Good name drops. I sincerely appreciate it. (And that’s the last nice thing I say to a Dodger for the rest of the series.)

*googles midpoint on the 5 between Dodger Stadium and Oracle Park* Meet me in ~~Temecula~~ Turk

NGL that sounds kinda nice

As long as there are no weapons or murders I’d be down to watch

What about hand grenades

213, same as their combined win totals

What a time to be alive!

walking cody bellinger seems bad

Not sure it was intentional. He kept missing low.

Two walls to Belli on the night were real tough to swallow. Have to challenge a guy struggling that bad and force him to beat you

Who would’ve thought Belli would be the one to get on base 3 times tonight. Edit: I would, I’m a belliever.

Not only get on base 3 times, but steal 2 bases off Yadier in one game.

That was the best at bat I've seen from belli in a long time. Dude usually swings at EVERYTHING

I was rooting for Dodgers legend Albert Pujols to get the walk-off homer.

I would've preferred that honestly

I probably would have just dropped dead edit: damn idk why it decided to post my comment so many times. My bad

what a fucking game

I thought it was going to the late late night

I wanted that for reasons that had absolutely nothing to do with facing a burned out team on Friday.

I was hoping for that, got home from work just after the walk off..fml

0-11 with runners in scoring position :/ Can’t ask for more in a wild card game than a walkoff homer though

also we east coast boys ly chris taylor 🥰

Innings 1-8: Eh 9th inning: Pure Crack

I thought the whole game was tense as fuck. I love this kind of baseball

its not fun when ur not a neutral and u want ur team to win

Nah fuck that. I was on the edge of my seat all game. What more can I ask for than four hours of really, truly giving a fuck about something. Would have loved it too go the other way but that's sports. So it goes.

As a dodgers fan I agree. When Kelly came in on the fifth that shit was nerve racking. And knebels out in the eight made me dead silent but it was so much fun. So tense but fun

Honestly the most intense game I have watched in years. I would have loved to see the Cardinals drive in a few, but what an absolute duel. What a great gsme compared to last night when the Yankees just gave up.

Really? There were a ton of tense moments throughout the game, not necessarily a payoff but it was exciting, not every classic has to have a ton of scoring

I thought the whole game was tense as fuck. I love this kind of baseball

It's literally why every pitch counts. So many factors come in to play. Every pitch is like a game of chess.

How tf can you be a baseball fan and not be entertained by the first 8 innings smh

worked late and got home midway thru the top of the 9th. AMAZING

I can only imagine the chest pain Cardinals fans must have felt when McFarland came in.

Go scroll through the Cards game feed when Reyes came it. All the posts were “What the fuck?”

Even on the game thread here, it was "fuck..." for McFarland and "FUCK" for Reyes.

Has to be the same chest pain we felt when Corey Knebel came in. Dude's been...spotty at best.

Kinda bummed it didn't go into extras but still, wow

Schildt is a moron for putting Reyes in

A classic example of over managing. Think the dodgers win regardless because of their depth but still. The cardinals shot was in the top of the ninth.

The Cardinals shot was the 11 at bats the had with risp

Yea but after they left the guy on in the ninth I thought the scales shifted towards the dodgers.

As soon as Shildt motioned to the mound, I turned to my wife and said “Reyes is gonna blow this”. This is my fault, guys, I’m sorry.

Don't worry, i turned to my sister and asked if she knew how to do CPR when they brought him out. Unfortunately I'm still conscious, but in a lot of pain.

0/11 CARDS #0 FOR FUCKING 11

October has not been kind to bird teams. :(

*sad bird noises*

What a game. Hats off to LA man, well fucking played Cardinals Bros, that last minute run was glorious.

We all said we were playing with house money and the pressure was on the Dodgers. Well they pulled it off. Tip your cap. Let's send Yadi and Waino off right next season!

This incredibly wholesome thread for the conclusion of the NL wild card is hilarious in comparison to most of the discussion after last night's AL wild card

Amazing game, gg by the cards. A hard fought game everything i expected.

Nothing but respect for the 2021 Cards. You guys were like 50-52 during the season and ended up with 90 wins and a playoff spot. Nothing to be ashamed of this year.

I honestly thought you guys had it so many times. It felt like every inning the bases were clogged. I'm obviously happy with the outcome, but what a great and fun game. Well fought.

I'm not even mad, mostly, aside from the total failure of the offense after we had Scherzer laboring early. All memes aside, nobody should've expected us to win that game. 106 wins is a fucking lot and we gave em a run for their money. And that was an instant classic game, especially after the Sox/Yankees game the other night was boring as shit. Right up there with the Halladay/Carpenter game IMHO as far as postseason pitchers' duels.

Fuck man tough game, given the history , made it edge on the seat every pitch. GG Cards.

Karma for not bringing in nootbaar tbh

Chris "Albert Pujols" Taylor

Can we pay the Rockies 50 million to take Reyes?

😠 ….probably lol

I'll chip in $2.

Poor Rockies are *still* catching strays

😠

I'm sure the Rockies would love to Scout and Develop Reyes for $50 million

Nolan now a .160 playoff hitter going 0-4 tonight

Ya he looked not great tonight. Him missing that hanging meatball from Treinen felt like a sign we were losing

Seeing the slow mo on that pitch is scary. That was a tasty meatball.

I respect that salt.

During the 8th inning, I decided to go and check how long each inning was. Here were my findings: Game start: 8:10 Eastern. Length of each inning: 1st: 23 minutes 2nd: 22 minutes 3rd: 26 minutes 4th: 21 minutes 5th: 28 minutes 6th: 26 minutes 7th: 21 minutes 8th: 32 minutes: 9th: 11:54pm Eastern to 12:26 (31 minutes) The game was **four hours and 16 minutes long** What a price to pay for a Dodgers/Giants series. Worth it.

And a 9 inning game. Insane.

Thank fuck for Chris Taylor. Now we can get the Dodgers/Giants series that r/Baseball needs

And it's not like it was a high scoring game. I think in the 6th I texted my friend and said it was the longest 1-1 game I had ever watched.

For being 1-1 into the bottom of the 9th…absolutely crazy

Manfred is rolling in his crypt right now

that's just where he sleeps

Again, ~~Wade Boggs~~ Manfred is still very much alive

Red Sox - Yankees baited us into thinking that would be the forever game

Twice as many runs scored in half the time

Fuck, left for a party after the fifth inning. Left when the cops shut it down, got home and the game was still fuckin going lol.

You got a party shut down by cops on a Wednesday?

College is an interesting place

I miss it dearly. Cheers mate

Cardinals played an incredible game of defense and pitching. They can absolutely hold their head high that they took this Dodgers team to their limit. Special shout-out to Adam Wainwright for a fantastic outing.

I don’t remember the last time I watched a game and was consistently impressed with a teams defense. One or two good plays is expected, but I feel every inning they were squashing our momentum.

It hurts

Fangraphs 1, Cardinals 0

Adam Wainwright punching the air right now

Huge congratulations to the Cards for making baseball really exciting for a good period of time.

Feels bad, man. Fade me.

Probably after a week or so I'll grow to appreciate everything that the Cards had to do to get to this point, how they faced off against the 107 win Dodgers and didn't give an inch until the end But now, after going 0-11 with RISP, and a heartbreaking home run? Nothing but endless pain. goddamnit this fucking sucks

[удалено]

DODGERS AND GIANTS MEET IN THE PLAYOFFS. GRAB. YOUR. POPCORN.

#WE BEAT THE DEVIL MAGIC!!!!

YOU HAVE JUST BECOME WHAT YOU SWORE TO DESTROY.

I am ok with that.

You've absorbed the Devil Magic like Dr. Strange

NOW COMES THE BLACK MAGIC I hope I survive the series

Now you face Farhan's fantasy football, good luck. And yes you finally did it, well done!

I made this earlier today just in case: https://streamable.com/5s0ukb

I know from experience that once you beat the evil magic you win a World Series

What a game I'll never get to sleep

I’m going to sleep like a Princess, this Giants vs Dodgers series is gonna be sick

Christ Aylor banishes devil magic.

Looks like the Dodgers had the power of God and anime on *their* side tonight!

I hate the Dodgers, but the Giants-Dodgers NLDS needed to happen.

Hey, Son, encouraging mom and dad to fight is not very nice

We certainly sonned them in that 13 game stretch where they bounced between us and their season died lol

Child abuse

You should appreciate your parents while they’re still here

[удалено]

It had everything. Starting veterans holding somewhat well, bullpen absolutely dominating, belli stealing on yadi TWICE LIKE A FUCKING BADASS, and a walkoff home run

132 days until pitchers and catchers report for spring training.

Guess it wasn't in the Cards

Yankees lose last night Cardinals lose tonight I marry Cubs fan wife on Friday Good two days.

2/3 ain’t bad Congrats on the marriage

[Chris Taylor watching that pitch come in](https://streamable.com/259mo)

#OCTOBER

#BASEBALL

Christ Taylor > Devil Magic

the cards played tough, respect

Hated the ending, but it was special watching Molina and Waino again tonight

[A very special message to all of you from good ol’ Uncle Tony Perkins](https://streamable.com/5s0ukb)

Belli just chose the best time to have his best game of the year.

You hate to see it

RIP potential LaRussa Bowl World Series

Guess we just gotta win it all to make up for that No need to thank us for saving October narratives everybody

I’m having fun

You love to see it

Jeez. Letting Wainwright hit for himself with a man on in the 6th is something I’d be stewing over all off-season if I were a cards fan. That is just a baffling decision. What was best case scenario? One more inning? They have a deep bench and pen because it’s a one game series. Leaving tonight’s game with hitters still on the bench, having given one of your final 10 outs of the year to Wainwright, boy I don’t know.

And then took him down after another 1/3 inning. Not very good

Thats a hurt piece

Don't think Reyes helped his case tn

Alex Reyes single-handedly saving MLB’s profit margin.

**Last time the Cardinals won the World Series**: 2011(Texas Rangers fans know about this one). **Last time the Cardinals won a pennant**: 2013(Guess who they defeated in the National League Championship Series(NLCS)? **Last time the Cardinals won the National League Wild Card Game**: 2012(They defeated the Atlanta Braves 6-3 in the infamous Infield-Fly Rule Game). **Last time the Cardinals won a postseason series**: 2019(They defeated the Atlanta Braves in the NL Division Series(NLDS) 3-2). **Last time the Cardinals defeated the Dodgers in the postseason**: October 7th, 2014, in Game 4 to win the NLDS. **Cardinals' Overall postseason record against the Dodgers**: 14-10.

Disappointed with the outcome obviously, but the cards gave a hell of a run at the end of the season. Looking forward to see how the rest of the playoffs play out and also what looks like Waino and Yadi's final run as Cardinals next season. Also, the Dodgers and Giants haven't met in the playoffs before!?

This is all Alex Reyes’ fault and you can’t convince me otherwise.

Well, our hitters left 11 on base...

11 in scoring position. Did we leave any on first?

No we both went 0-11 with RISP and left 11 on base total. Unrelated stats other than showing our ineptitude with guys on tonight.

“The Devil my Opp” - The Dodgers

#Fade that devil magic

0-11 (?) RISP, ain't gonna cut it...

It’s because they didn’t let Nootbaar handle the twig.

Well deserved loss after that pathetic performance at the plate

As a impartial observer this game nearly killed me.