The St. Louis Cardinals are hanging on to the NL Wild Card hunt by a thread, and it's thanks in large part to everyday shortstop Masyn Winn's contributions that they have been able to do so. On Tuesday night, the Cardinals faced the Tampa Bay Rays in a battle between two playoff hopefuls and came out on top, 4-3, with Winn taking center stage with an incredible defensive play to stop the Rays' rally in its tracks in the top of the ninth inning.
The Rays had already scored one run in the top of the ninth, and they still had two runners on base with two outs against Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley. Taylor Walls hit the ball sharply towards the ground and back into the mound, hitting Helsley and changing the flight of the ball in the process. Even then, Winn was locked into the ball in play, fielded the ball cleanly, and wasted no time in throwing the ball to first base to secure the ballgame.
Walls has some wheels, so Masyn Winn had to make that play picture perfect to pull it off, and he did, somehow. Winn has been turning heads all year long, but this play cements him even further as one of his team's most important players, with Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol praising him fervently in his post-game presser.
“That play. I don't know who else makes that — I mean, I'm just being honest. That's an absolute cannon. He's done a nice job of using it when he needs to. He needed to right there, and game over. That was impressive to watch,” Marmol said, via Bally Sports Midwest.
Cardinals avoid a repeat of Friday's late-game meltdown
It seemed like the Cardinals were going to experience deja vu on Tuesday. Sonny Gray was on the mound and he pitched a gem yet again, but Ryan Helsley was once again shaky to end the game. This time, however, the Cardinals escape with a win, thanks to Masyn Winn's stellar defensive play.
Winn took a calculated risk in throwing the ball, and it paid off. The Cardinals shortstop mentioned after the game that he saw that Taylor Walls was right there for the taking, so he unleashed his cannon and sealed the victory for St. Louis.
“When I threw it, I knew he was out. For the most part, if I throw a ball really hard, they're out almost 100% of the time. If he was safe, I probably would've just eaten it, but I thought I had a good chance,” Winn said.
Follow Us
Subscribe