With the St. Louis Cardinals clinging on for dear life in the National League playoff race, every game feels like a must-win from now on. On Tuesday night, it appeared that the Cardinals would blunder their way to defeat, with center fielder Michael Siani, who makes his living on the defensive side of the ball, attempting an epic diving catch off a sharp fly ball from Willy Adames — only for the ball to fall off his glove, allowing the Milwaukee Brewers’ tying run to cross the plate in the 11th inning.
Siani, on the other hand, immediately rose from zero to hero status for the Cardinals. With runners on second and third as he approached the plate in the top of the 12th inning, the 25-year-old center fielder, who has had his fair share of hitting issues, redeemed himself. He made contact on Elvis Peguero’s very low sinker and knocked a bloop single to left field, scoring two runs with one swing of the bat.
As the great Ted Lasso once stated, professional players must have the memory of a goldfish. Errors and weaknesses are inevitable in athletics, but how a person recovers is what matters. The Cardinals center fielder and hero in their 7-4 victory over the Brewers had to swiftly clear his mind of the missed opportunity to end the game in the 11th inning, which he did successfully.
“The coaches said, ‘Listen, you’re going to win the game for us with the bat.'” “I tried as hard as I could to get it out of my head,” Siani told Bally Sports Midwest’s Jim Hayes in his postgame news conference.
Siani on go-ahead hit in the 12th after just missing game-ending catch: "Coaches said, 'Listen, you're going to go win the game for us with the bat.' I tried as best as I could to get it out of my mind."
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It is not ideal for the Cardinals to have Michael Siani, a light-hitting outfielder who is only in his second game back from injury, in such a situation. Prior to Tuesday, Siani had an OPS of.617 this season.
However, Siani’s role as the night’s hero was predetermined by the stars. Not many people would have the guts to make the catch he did in the 11th inning to win the game for the Cardinals, and the baseball gods surely rewarded his bravery with a memorable moment he will never forget.
Michael Siani redeems himself for the Cardinals
There is no doubt that Michael Siani is highly valued by the Cardinals franchise. They’ve relied on him to be their regular center fielder for the majority of the season, thanks in large part to his top-tier defensive performance at the position.
Siani covers a lot of ground in the outfield and isn’t afraid to go for seemingly impossible catches. Regardless, Siani bit off more than he could chew, nearly fumbling the game for the Cardinals on Tuesday.
“Oh, I am really upset about not making the catch. I definitely want to make that play, and the game is over, so don’t worry about it. But it felt fantastic to come up there and redeem myself and make something happen,” Siani added, via John Denton of MLB.com.
With the win, the Cardinals go above.500 to 70-69. They are still in contention for a wild card spot, with the Atlanta Braves leading by 5.5 games with 23 games left in the season.
