August 19, 2003: The Cards Score 10 In The 8th To Push Them Past The Pirates at Busch

On August 19, 2003, the Cardinals found themselves trailing the Pirates 5-3 as they were headed into bottom of the eighth at Busch before exploding for 10 runs to take a 13-5 lead, which would prove to be the final sore. Lloyd McClendon called on reliever Jason Beimel to take care of business in the eighth which proved to be the beginning of the end for the Pirates. Beimel's day started off with a pair of singles by Orlando Palmeiro and Edgar Renteria , then he walked the bases full as he gave ole Jimmy Ballgame a free pass. Beimel was out of the contest before he even picked up an out, then Julian Tavarez heard the phone ring in the Pirates pen as Scott Rolen was taking his practice swings getting ready to face the reliever. Rolen jumped on the second pitch and lined it into left center for a bases clearing double to give the Birds the lead. With the score 6-5, Tavarez walked the bases full before recording the first out of the inning. So Taguchi came into bat for the winning pitcher Cal Eldred and shot a ball up the middle that tacked two more runs on the board. The ninth batter of the inning, Bo Hart followed Taguchi up with an RBI double. Tavarez put Palmeiro on with a free pass in hopes of a double play but it backfired quickly when Edgar Renteria doubled into left scoring Taguchi and Hart. The shellshocked Pirates pulled the plug on Tavarez with the score 11-5 and sent for Mahomes just hoping that someone in their pen could stop the hemorrhaging, Mahomes struck out Jim Edmonds then Rolen came to bat for the second time in the inning and delivered once again with the two run single that put the Birds on top 13-5. Mahomes got Tino Martinez to flyout to end the ten run frame that had the fans at Busch looking at the person next to them and asking them "What the hell just happened?" I'll tell you what happened, St. Louis Cardinals baseball happened. POW!!! That's one helluva an inning. Steve Kline finished the Pirates off with a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the ninth and there were nothing but smiles downtown after that one.

Here's the box score: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN200308190.shtml