ST. LOUIS -- Returning for the final two weeks of another season that will likely end short of the playoffs, Nolan Arenado simply had one goal in mind. He wanted to show teams -- both the Cardinals and contenders that might be interested in dealing for him in the offseason -- that he is finally healthy and once again able to sting baseballs.
Playing in his fourth game after missing six weeks with a strained right shoulder, Arenado used his quick hands to turn on a low-and-in sinker from Grant Anderson to break open a close game that paved the way to a 7-1 win for the Cardinals over the rival Brewers at Busch Stadium.
Arenado, who was shopped by the Cardinals last winter and expects to be potentially dealt to a contender this offseason, is hoping to show teams that he is beyond a right shoulder injury suffered in early July and one that led to his worst month of the season statistically. With his fifth-inning double that broke open a 2-1 game, Arenado showed the quick hands needed to turn on a 94.5 mph low-and-in sinker from Anderson. Also, the ball left his bat at 103.8 mph, showing that he still has plenty of pop in his bat.
“It’s always important to come back and you never want to end the season being hurt,” Arenado said on Monday. “If you can come back, you always need to do that, and it was important for me to make it back. I want to be back, play hard and let the chips fall where they may.”
Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol, Arenado’s manager for the past four seasons, knew the desire the third baseman had to return this season and prove to the baseball world that he can still be a productive piece of a winning team.
“That’s not in his nature at all,” Marmol said of Arenado potentially ending the season on the IL. “He wanted to make sure that he was healthy. The rehab was that short for that reason -- because he was fighting as much as possible to get back in this lineup and show that he’s healthy. Big swing tonight, for sure.”
With the win, the Cardinals (75-79) remain five games back of the Mets for the final playoff spot in the National League. Regardless of whether they defy the odds and get into the playoffs, the Cards could have a large say in the seeding for the NL playoffs with games remaining against the Brewers, Giants and Cubs.
Sonny Gray (14-8) scattered nine hits and limited the Brewers to one run -- a solo home run by Sal Frelick -- over six innings. The Cards improved to 15-5 at Busch Stadium in Gray’s St. Louis starts -- the most wins in MLB by a pitcher at his home park. The Cards’ 15 home wins with Gray starting are tied for the second most in franchise history, trailing only Matt Morris’ 16 wins at Busch Stadium II in 2001.
Unlike days earlier when Gray came unglued in the sixth inning following an extended rally by the Cards in the fifth inning, this time around Gray powered through the sixth inning and got out of a jam when he induced a Joey Ortiz comebacker.
“It was similar to five or six days ago when I faced them, and the difference this time is that I finished the sixth and I learned from last week,” said Gray, who tied his season high of 14 wins. “There were some huge plays along the way. You’re really able to put it away when you can come back [in the sixth inning] and put up a zero.
“My process throughout the week was to be better if I get myself in that [sixth inning] situation again. This world is crazy that five days later, I got myself in that exact same situation. This time, I got through it.”
Gray, who has spoken glowingly of Arenado’s tireless work ethic even though he has a list of accomplishments longer than anyone else in the clubhouse, was happy to see the eight-time All-Star deliver the key hit that broke the game open.
“It was a huge spot in the game and that’s the single hit that broke it open,” Gray said of Arenado. “So that was a huge inning for us all around.”