Dropped final out leads to 6-run Cards rally in the 9th for stunning win

CINCINNATI -- With the game on the line in the top of the ninth on Thursday afternoon, the Cardinals desperately needed a ball in the air.

Pinch-hitter Everson Pereira couldn’t provide it, meaning that JJ Wetherholt simply lofting a routine fly ball thereafter was not supposed to have any tangible impact that would favor the Cardinals, who were down to their final out after Pereira’s strikeout.

But the fly ball’s placement into left-center field off Wetherholt’s bat created just the right kind of chaos between Reds left fielder TJ Friedl and center fielder Dane Myers.

Myers ranged a considerable distance to call off Friedl, who had just entered as a defensive substitution in the eighth inning.

The ball clanged off his leather to stun the afternoon crowd at Great American Ball Park.

Wetherholt’s swing plated the tying and go-ahead runs to spark a stunning six-run ninth inning for the visitors as the Cardinals shocked the Reds in a 10-9 win.

The celebration accelerated for St. Louis when, with one out and a runner on first, second baseman Bryan Torres pulled back on a bunt attempt and was clipped on the finger by the pitch -- and he had the pain to prove it.

As Torres received attention from Cardinals medical personnel, Reds manager Terry Francona was waiting to see whether Torres would be assigned first base following his manager’s challenge.

The ruling on the field stood, and Torres was awarded the bag, setting in motion the ensuing rally. Swiftly, the proceedings transitioned from a likely one-run loss to a scenario where manager Oliver Marmol looked to spare reliever Riley O’Brien from a day of work.

But there was plenty more chaos yet to play out in Cincinnati.

George Soriano entered to pitch the bottom of the ninth with a five-run lead.

O’Brien wound up pitching anyway, as Soriano’s struggles threw the game back firmly into the balance, with the Reds clawing back with four runs against the St. Louis bullpen.

When O’Brien took the mound, Sal Stewart ripped a two-run single to bring Cincinnati to within 10-8.

O’Brien walked the next two batters to force home a run and bring up Matt McLain -- who had already hit a grand slam in the sixth inning -- for another bases-loaded spot.

McLain drove one to the wall in right, but Jordan Walker secured it for the final out to conclude what might go down as the wildest win of the Cardinals' season.