MILWAUKEE – Within 20 minutes at Milwaukee’s American Family Field late Tuesday night, Cardinals outfielder Michael Siani went from having the game slip out of his hand to having it shift beneath his feet to taking it over entirely with a heady ability to adjust and still deliver.
“He basically did it all for us that inning,†Paul Goldschmidt said.
Deep into an unflinching staring contest between two bullpens, Siani made a diving attempt on a line drive in the 11th inning that appeared to end the ballgame.
Until it didn’t.
Goldschmidt’s third RBI of the evening gave the Cardinals a lead Siani’s catch would have secured, except during his slide the ball rattled loose and rolled away to allow the Brewers to re-tie the score. Siani was due up in the top of the 12th and, in the dugout between innings, tried to stop thinking about the catch that wasn’t and focus on the at-bat that was yet to be. He would likely have to execute a crunch-time bunt.
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Until he didn’t.
He had a chance to win it – this time with his bat.
“We see it all the time,†Siani said. “The game will find you for sure.â€
On the way to Siani generating all three runs that were the difference in a 7-4 victory in the 12th inning against the Brewers on Tuesday, the Cardinals got contributions from many facets of the roster.
Hours before Siani came to the plate with a chance to win the game, Steven Matz struck out seven in his 4 2/3-inning return to the majors from injury. For an hour, the Cardinals’ bullpen, typified by two strong innings from Matthew Liberatore, silenced the Brewers and held them to one hit in their final 22 at-bats of the game. Goldschmidt doubled, homered, and twice drove in a tiebreaking run, including his 11th inning single for the lead just minutes before Siani came up to hit the 12th. And moments before he did, Ivan Herrera earned a walk that put a larger inning in motion.
But those final 20 minutes, from the catch that wasn’t a winner to the runs that were, became a showcase of the multiple ways Siani could shape a game – or take ahold of it.
“That’s a great thing to say,†he told the Post-Dispatch at his locker late Tuesday night in the visitor’s clubhouse. “I talked about how I want to be able to do a lot of things in baseball. Like you said, that embraces every single part of what I have to offer.
“You’ve got defense,†he continued. “You’ve got coming up in that situation trying to get guys over with a bunt. Knowing that the situation changes with a wild pitch and now you have to put a good at-bat together and get those guys in. It’s a lot of things packed into a quick moment. You have to slow it down as much as you can and enjoy it, honestly. You have to go out there and …â€
He paused.
He inhaled.
“Just breathe,†he said.
Two games into his return from an oblique strain that cost him a month and left him two innings shy of qualifying for the Rawlings Gold Glove Award, Siani went from what could have been one of the most dramatic catches of the season to the hit the Cardinals needed the most in that instant. How that 20 minutes unfolded for Siani — story in five acts.Â
Act 1. Catch
Before the oblique strain that put him on the injured list, Siani won the starting job in center field with his deft defense, and after the oblique strain the position was waiting for him Monday for the same reason. Among the league leaders in advanced metrics at the position, Siani has, since about a year ago, shown the mix of instincts, quick reads, efficient routes, and flat-out speed to excel at the position.
All of those skills were on display in the 11th.
Closer Ryan Helsley struck out the first two batters of the inning to come within an out of cinching the victory and marooning the extra-inning runner at second as merely a spectator. Willy Adames changed that with a sharp, sinking line drive to center. Siani gave chase. He dashed in from deeper center and dove forward and slightly toward left – all while angling his glove under the liner to catch it just before it kissed the grass.
“He’s made some of the best catches I’ve ever seen and that might have topped them all,†Goldschmidt said. “Even to get there. I don’t know if there are many guys who can do that.â€
Siani had control of the ball as he slid across the grass, but with his arm extended to make the catch he felt his shoulder was vulnerable to an injury. He twisted to avoid pressure on the shoulder, saying later he “tried to brace it a little bit.†The combination of the twist and forward momentum twisted his arm and the glove, costing him control of the ball. It flung loose, allowing the Brewers to score.
The Cardinals challenged the call on the field to see if replay would end the game.
According to Rule 5.09 (a) (1) a catch “is the act of a fielder in getting secure possession in his hand or glove of a ball in flight and firmly holding it.†It can still be a catch if control is lost in the act of transferring the ball to a fielder’s throwing hand, but it’s not catch if control is not maintained up until that point. The replay confirmed the call on the field – that Siani did not complete the entire play with control of the ball. Major League Baseball issued a statement to the media that explained.
“After viewing all relevant angles, the replay officials definitively determined that the fielder failed to maintain firm and secure possession of the ball throughout the catch,†the explanation read. “The call is confirmed; it is not a catch.â€
Helsley struck out the next batter to freeze the score, 4-4.
Siani talked to an umpire and then trotted to the dugout to try and forget the play and focus on his forthcoming at-bat.
He was due up second in the 12th.
“It looked like we almost ended the game – which isn’t enough,†Goldschmidt said. “You can go to a not-good place mentally and think, ‘Oh man, we were so close. Why’d that happen? Now what’s going to happen?’ And let those thoughts go. Or, you can just move on and execute the next situation and fortunately Siani did that.â€
Act 2. Bunt
With the Brewers’ bullpen matching the Cardinals’ bullpen foolproof inning after foolproof inning, the Cardinals took the unusual approach in the top of the 10th of playing for a run. They were in the part of their lineup to do just that with Siani leading off.
He dutifully bunted the spontaneously generated runner over to third, and the rally stalled from there. But Siani did his part.
He expected to do it again.
In the 12th, just minutes after his catch didn’t end the game, Siani watched from the on-deck circle as Herrera drew a walk from Brewers reliever Elvis Peguero. That put two runners on base with no outs – and set up an obvious bunt situation. Siani would, again, move the two runners in scoring position for the top of the order to bring home. But a wild thing happened on the way to the bunt. Siani showed it, pulled it back, and Peguero obliged with an errant pitch that did everything Siani’s bunt would have tried.
The two Cardinals on base advanced 90 feet, and Siani’s situation changed.
He’d get a chance to swing.
Act 3. Hit
The glove that got Siani into the lineup gave the bat time to being to contribute, too.
Eighty-one games into his career and 70 games into the Cardinals season, Siani had a .207 average and on-base percentage and slugging percentage that dovetailed around at about .250 and .260. He talked about learning what kind of hitter he could be in the majors – slashing singles, dropping bunts, and filching extra bases.
In the next 37 games before his oblique injury, he hit .323 (32 for 99) with six extra-base hits, a .363 OBP, and seven steals in eight attempts.
Back from the IL, he was hitless on Monday and he grounded out in each of his first two at-bats Tuesday. But with the bunt shelved in the 12th, Siani adjusted to situational hitting. He had to bring in one of the runs, someway, somehow.
“I’ve been talking about it all year,†Siani said. “Take it one pitch at a time. You have to stay within yourself and not let the game speed up. That’s a perfect example. I know the game is on the clock for sure now. That’s part of it. You try to slow it down as best you can and really think through every pitch, every situation. It’s a lot of reflection and making sure your head is in the right spot for every pitch, and you know the situation and you are ready for the moment.â€
Ahead in the count, 2-0, Siani got the first fastball of the at-bat and lashed it to left field to score both of his teammates and regain the lead.
He was not done.
Act 4. Steal
Although he missed a month with the injury and took a few weeks to establish himself as the starter, Siani leads the 2024 Cardinals in stolen bases. Shortstop Masyn Winn has taken a recent run at Siani’s lead, but only closed on Siani’s 14 in 17 attempts.
Make that 15.
With the bases cleared thanks to his single, Siani stood at first with Winn at the plate. When it became clear the Brewers’ reliever was focused more on the hitter, Siani took off for second. He got such an alert jump that catcher William Contreras rushed his throw to second. The ball veered on him, and a steal to get into scoring position became a run to third to be ever closer to home.
Siani went from trying to ignore the missed catch to abandoning the plan to bunt to now taking advantage of an edge he could exploit against the Brewers’ pitcher.
“Could have been a lot of distractions,†Goldschmidt said.
Instead, Siani became one.
Act 5. Run
On third with one out, Siani had multiple ways he could get one. Another wild pitch would do. A groundball to the right side of the infield would, too. The extra 180 feet taken by Siani meant the fly ball by Alec Burleson for the second out of the inning scored Siani on the sacrifice fly instead of left him at first base.
Siani’s run increased the Cardinals’ lead to 7-4.
Helsley returned for the bottom of the 12th to blitz through the Brewers’ lineup and claim the Cardinals’ fifth win in their past seven games. They kept themselves from falling 13 games behind the first-place Brewers, and they gave themselves a chance to win the series Wednesday with Sonny Gray on the mound.
Several times after the game, Siani mentioned the need to forget the catch he didn’t make, the call on the field, the replay confirmation – all of it. He was asked when that happened. Did he shed any thought of it as he reached the dugout? Did it take until the on-deck circle? At want point in there and ahead of his game-winning at-bat did he let go of the catch that wasn’t?
“Next month?†Siani replied. “I don’t have an answer for that.â€