Felipe Lopez, (center, wearing No. 3) is congratulated following his seventh-inning grand slam that did in the New York Mets.
After St. Louis Cardinals' starting pitcher Chris Carpenter capped his sparkling 2010 home debut with two strikeouts to end the seventh inning, his offense strived to get out of a 1-0 hole and reward him with a victory. Rookie third baseman David Freese began the bottom of the inning against New York Mets starting pitcher Oliver Perez, and beat out an infield single hit to shortstop Jose Reyes. Joe Mather followed with a sacrifice bunt, excelling at the little things to move Freese into scoring position. Perez’s outing was done, as manager Jerry Manuel took the ball from him, congratulated him on a fine outing, and watched him walk to a dugout full of high-fives. That’s when the fun began.
The Mets bullpen hasn’t been their strong suit over the past couple of years, to put it lightly. Francisco Rodriguez is a great closer, but the team has had difficulties giving him the ball with a chance to compile a save. Manuel would have to return to the mound multiple times following the exit of Perez, and in these instances he wasn’t in a good mood.
Fernando Nieve, who played well for the Mets last year after being claimed off waivers from the Houston Astros, wasn’t as successful on this night. His battle with pinch-hitter Skip Schumaker started off well, as he jumped out to a 0-2 count. Then, a curveball curved too much, hitting Schumaker on the right foot. It may have hit dirt before nicking his shoe, but first base was now occupied. With this, the wheels began to fall off an already wobbly Mets bullpen.
Power-hitting Matt Holliday, who was scratched from the lineup due to illness, stepped into the batters box. He looked under the weather, but his plate-discipline wasn’t affected. After taking two strikes, he layed off a pair of deceptive pitches and then took advantage of a frustrated Nieve to work a walk. Bases loaded, one out for leadoff hitter Felipe Lopez.
Nieve wouldn’t be the one to face him. Raul Valdes, a member of the patched-together and relatively ineffective relief core, took his place. Lopez, who was signed in the offseason, is a very well-built six feet and has been a solid leadoff man wherever he has been. He has never possessed much power aside from a 23-homer outburst in 2005 with Cincinnati, but when he hits one, it goes a long ways. Valdes can vouch for that after hanging a slider.
The fourth pitch was flat, rolling right down the middle. Lopez’s eyes grew big. Valdes’s heart sank. Both knew what was coming. As soon as Lopez turned on it the Busch Stadium crowd leaped out of their seats and watched anxiously to see if the rocket would clear the left-field fence. It did, landing in the bullpen for a grand-slam. Albert Pujols, who was outside the dugout waiting for his turn, pumped his fist. The crowd roared as all four rounded the bases and as Lopez was congratulated on his sixth career four-run homer. The crowd applauded him once more as he came out of a dugout full of smiles and laughs to tip his cap.
Plays like this, which put Carpenter in line for the win, is what makes baseball great. The homer was completely shocking, given it was his first of the season and given the situation. As it cleared the wall and dropped 387 feet away, my father and I were elated just as the sold-out stadium was. Not only did the sequence exploit a shaky Mets bullpen, but it exemplified the unpredictability of the game and how much fans play a part in making it that much more enjoyable. The moment, which put the Cardinals ahead 4-1 in a contest they would eventually win by one, was incredible, and one Lopez, the fans, and his teammates won’t soon forget. Faraway admirers, like myself, won’t either.
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