The mission, which Paul DeJong eagerly accepted, was to do something, anything with a pitch from Pittsburgh’s heat-seeking lefty to get the ball in play and bring the runner home from third base to tie Wednesday afternoon’s game.
It’s a spot so common and so pivotal in baseball that it’s the subject of drills during spring training, the focus of teams in October, and celebrated daily in the Cardinals’ team-bonding “Ball Talk” session.
DeJong struck out, the runner remained at third, and that moment joined two others as culprits in the Cardinals’ 4-3 loss to the Pirates at Busch Stadium.