When Trevor Rosenthal works three times as many innings as any other pitcher, you know there is something unusual afoot. “It’s been a while,” said Rosenthal.
The Cardinals, desperately trying to stay alive in the wild-card chase were, well, desperate Saturday at Busch Stadium. That was especially so after starter Michael Wacha gave up a three-run homer to Pittsburgh’s Jung Ho Kang in the first inning and needed 29 pitches to get three outs.
The telephone rang in the Cardinals’ bullpen. And it kept ringing until the Cardinals had employed six relievers to cover the last eight innings of a 4-3 win over Pittsburgh to remain one game behind San Francisco for the second wild-card spot in the National League with one game to go for each club.