Player of the gameMichael McGreevySTL6.0ip 5h 2er 5k
With the Cardinals closing in on a sweep of the Reds on Sunday afternoon at Busch Stadium, it felt like the team was just a swing away from being able to find an opening in a tie game. As it turned out, the key swing wasn’t a swing at all. Instead, it was a bunt by Victor Scott II that helped propel the Cardinals to a 5-3 victory. Scott’s left-on-left numbers have been a strength to this point in the season, but after José Fermín and Nelson Velázquez led off the bottom of the eighth inning with back-to-back singles, the situation called for the Cardinals' center fielder to lay one down. Scott dropped the bunt into the Bermuda Triangle of the infield grass with just enough authority to nudge Reds reliever Sam Moll into a bold idea -- he aimed to get the lead runner at third base. But after Moll was the goat in Lars Nootbaar’s hero story on Saturday, it happened to him again on Sunday. Moll’s throw sailed on Reds third baseman Sal Stewart, down the left-field line to allow the go-ahead Cardinal run to score. Cardinals closer Riley O’Brien pitched a scoreless ninth to pick up his second save in as many days, securing the sweep over the Reds. Scott's key moment encapsulated the Cardinals’ preferred style of play. “Another thing we talk about is … being tough,” manager Oliver Marmol said. “Being a tough at-bat. Putting the ball in play. Not having a ton of swing-and-miss in our lineup, one through nine. Making them earn it. Putting pressure on the defense. Forcing them to actually make plays. And we did a lot of that today.” For Scott, his bunt in a clutch moment was a reflection of the hours of work he’s put into the craft.
