Donovan's record-tying 4 doubles help Cards avoid elimination

SAN FRANCISCO -- Brendan Donovan showed up to Oracle Park on Tuesday uncertain whether he would be able to play. He departed in the MLB record book.

Out of the lineup the past two games with groin stiffness that has bothered him for months, Donovan did indeed play. He tied an MLB record with four doubles to spark the Cardinals to a wild 9-8 victory over the Giants, which kept them alive in the playoff chase.

Donovan, an All-Star for the first time in 2025, drilled a line drive off the wall in right field in the top of the ninth inning, which allowed speedy center fielder Victor Scott II to score the tying run from first base. Donovan’s big hit set the stage for Alec Burleson’s game-winning single as the Cardinals overcame a five-run deficit and staved off elimination for another day.

“This time of year, you’re supposed to be banged up. But we threw everything at [the groin injury],” Donovan said of working throughout the day to get ready to play.

Donovan wasn’t in Oliver Marmol’s original lineup. About two hours before the game, he let the manager know he could play.

“I just wanted to know that I could get off the ball on defense and I can hold positions in my swing,” Donovan said. “When you’re not feeling right, that’s one thing. But if it affects your posture or being on time, that’s when you’re not just doing yourself a disservice, but you’re doing it to the club, too.

“We went through a little bit of everything. We hit and I was feeling pretty good, so I said, ‘Put me in there!’”

Donovan, who left the game after the tying hit because of the groin issue, joined Matt Carpenter (2018) and Joe Medwick (1937) as the only Cardinals with four doubles in a game. There have been 52 such games in MLB history. Colorado’s Ezequiel Tovar is the only other player to do it this year.

“[Donovan] is going to give you everything that he’s got for that day, whether it’s 100% or 20%,” Burleson said. “Good hitters are just going to hit, and that’s what he did. Four doubles is pretty impressive, and he’s a big part of that win.”

A victory by the Mets earlier Tuesday put the Cards on the brink of elimination. Instead, they remained 3 1/2 games back of the final NL Wild Card spot with four games remaining.

Many of the players didn’t even know that they needed to win to stave off an elimination -- not that it would have changed the team’s mentality, Nolan Arenado said.

“We didn’t know, and I think we’re just playing,” said Arenado, who followed Iván Herrera’s three-run homer in the seventh inning with a solo drive of his own to get the Cards -- once down 8-3 -- to within 8-7. “We’re just going to keep playing hard until Sunday is over and they tell us that we’re done. It doesn’t matter about all that [playoff odds]. We just want to try and win every game that we possibly can.”

Added Marmol: “I love that one. I wish we had two more weeks of baseball, to be honest with you, because the guys are getting after it and they don’t want to give in. It’s been fun. To be able to give up a five-spot [in the third inning] and not give in at all, it’s huge. These guys are taking their best shot, and it’s been really good.”

Donovan’s health has been anything but good going down the stretch. In early August, he tried pushing through a foot injury that led to the groin stiffness and pain. He landed on the injured list on Aug. 18. Then, after missing 25 games and rushing his rehab assignment at Double-A Springfield, Donovan returned Sept. 12 in Milwaukee.

Lingering soreness has had the 28-year-old Donovan in and out of the lineup ever since. He was unable to play in the Cardinals’ 2025 home finale on Sunday and scratched from the starting lineup on Monday following the four-hour flight to San Francisco.

Donovan’s decision to play on Tuesday paid dividends quickly. He led off the game with a double that jump-started a three-run first inning for the Cardinals. After alternating doubles to the right-center and left-center gaps in the middle innings, he drilled a 109.6 mph laser into right field that allowed Scott to score.

After going from uncertain to play to the MLB record book, Donovan just shook his head late Tuesday night.

“Baseball is a weird, weird game sometimes,” Donovan said with a wry smile.