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The Cardinals’ Ninth Inning From Hell

ST. LOUIS — There have been a few core pieces the Cardinals have been able to count on all season. One is Ryan Helsley—among the sharpest relievers in the game, to say nothing of the hardest-throwing, who finally unlocked his potential this year with career-low walks and career-high strikeouts. Another is the infield defense—an efficient, cohesive unit, responsible for the fewest team errors in baseball. The roster certainly has other assets. But these? They’ve been the most reliable—less like mere strengths, more like obvious truths, seemingly unalienable and irrevocable.

Yet St. Louis’s ninth inning on Friday was a reminder that any baseball truth is only as reliable as the last time it was told.