GAME THREAD 10/5/1985:

#StLCards  (100-60, with a Magic Number of 1) vs. Steve Trout (9-6) and the Chicago Cubs (76-83):

Vince-7
Willie-8
Herr-4
Clark-3
Cedeno-9
Pendleton-5
Ozzie-6
Nieto-2
Tudor (20-8)

#StLCards  score in 2nd when Clark walks, Cedeno singles him to 3rd, and one out later, Ozzie hits a sac fly to center to make it 1-0.

Then, with one on and one out in the 4th, Vince shows off his wheels in the field.

After a wild pitch, Moreland’s RBI single ties it at 1-1, which is how it stays until the 6th.

In 6th, Herr & Clark single. Cedeno makes it 2-1 on a sac fly. Pendleton singles & Ozzie grounds out to make it 2nd & 3rd.

Cubs intentionally walk Nieto to load the bases for Tudor...

That may be all Tudor needs the way he’s been pitching this year—and the way the #StLCards  are playing defense!

In the 7th, McGee triples, Herr gets another sac fly to make it 4-1, #StLCards

Cedeno then comes to bat. He gets knocked down by Jay Baller, and then this is how Cedeno responds:

In the 8th, #StLCards  get 2 more when Nieto walks, Tudor bunts him over & Coleman singles him home. After an E7, McGee singles home Vince, and the Birds can taste the champagne already...

Tudor takes the mound in the 9th for the #StLCards . Since allowing a run, he’s retired the last 13 batters in a row. He gets Speier for 14.

Tudor then retires his 15th in a row, getting Dernier to pop up to Ozzie! One out away!!!

Gary Mathews gets a two-out double, but no worries...Tudor retires reigning NL MVP Ryne Sandberg, and the #StLCards   are NL East champs!

Tudor's start was his 6th start on three days rest this season for the #StLCards . In those six, he went 6-0 with a 0.69 ERA and 8.68 IP/start.

From 6/1/85 to end of season, Tudor made 26 starts. In those games, he went 20-1, 1.37 ERA, 0.87 WHIP and over 8 IP/start.
#ace

Perhaps most importantly, in 6 starts for the #StLCards  vs. the Mets, Tudor averaged over 8 IP/start and posted an ERA of 0.93.

Omitting Tudor's 3 IP start on 4/22, in his other 5 starts vs. the Mets he averaged OVER 9 IP/start and was 3-0 with an ERA of 0.40.
#clutch

Some scenes from the NL East champion #StLCards clubhouse: Cesar Cedeno & John Tudor enjoy champagne showers, and Terry Pendleton drenches Vince Coleman.

Bill Campbell (in 13th year): “I’m going to sit here and savor every moment. 650-some games and never anything. It’s been a long time, all the bouncing around. This is great, really great. I told Dal, I didn’t know whatever the reason was why he got me here, but I’m glad he did.”

Mike Jorgensen (who had played since 1968 and had never reached #Postseason ): “The feeing I have is more relief than anything else. You hear about chemistry on a 25-man team and it absolutely had to be there for us to win.”

Willie McGee, on how this season compares to 1982: “This is better because of the fact that we weren’t picked to be competitive. Now we’re on top, so far. I think we’ve silenced some people. Not other teams, but the critics. Maybe they’ll take notice now.”

More comparisons to the 1982 title:

Tom Herr: “In ‘82, I was just along for the ride. This year I was a bigger part of the puzzle. I wasn’t one of the key guys in ‘82.”

Ozzie: “This one is better. I’m one of the older guys now. I feel like I had more input this time.”

#Postseason , here we come!
#TheWhiteRat
#AsAmadeeSeesIt