ST. LOUIS -- The weather added an extra level of difficulty for St. Louis right fielder William Fowler when tracking a long fly ball off the bat of Philadelphia's Carlos Santana during the Cardinals' 12-4 win on Friday night.
Half an inning after the skies over Busch Stadium opened for the second time in the night, Fowler fought falling rain to rob Santana of an extra-base hit at the right-field wall.
Would it have been a home run? Starting pitcher Michael Wacha certainly thought so.
"Huge play," Wacha said. "I missed my spot with the pitch, and off the crack of the bat I thought it was gone. Dexter made a heck of a play to bring it back."
Fowler felt for the wall, waited and timed his jump perfectly to snatch Santana's long drive near the top of the fence. The catch took away what could've potentially been Santana's second homer in two days, and sixth in his past nine games.
It also preserved a 4-0 lead for the Cardinals, who benefitted from the elements in a soggy four-run third inning against Jacob Arrieta. St. Louis scored two of its runs after a Scott Kingery throwing error extended the inning. Kingery threw a routine grounder away after struggling to grip the ball. The elements led to another run in the Cardinals' favor in the fourth inning, when second baseman Cesar Hernandez bobbled a catch at first base on a sacrifice bunt, and reliever Andrew Hutchison uncorked a wild pitch on the next play.
In all, the slumping Cardinals' offense erupted for 12 runs on a season-high 15 hits. Though the still-struggling Fowler went 0-for-4, he contributed the game's defensive highlight in what turned into a blowout victory.