First, there was a cat. Then there was a slam.
The Cardinals-Royals game was briefly delayed in the bottom of the sixth inning with two outs and the bases loaded when an animal – later revealed to be a small cat, possibly a kitten – was running across the field, starting somewhere behind third base and heading out to center field, where a member of the grounds crew, Lucas Hackmann, finally caught up with it at the wall.
Hackmann got scratched a few times carrying the cat off the field – he reported on Twitter he was OK, though he went to Barnes-Jewish Hospital for shots -- and when they were safely in the stands and play resumed, Yadier Molina hit the next pitch he saw into the left field bleachers for a grand slam home run that put the suddenly offensively powerful Cardinals in the lead on their way to an 8-5 win at Busch Stadium on Wednesday night.