Herrera's 3-Run Bomb Turns a 9th-Inning Burial Into a 7-6 Steal

Ivan Herrera hit a 430-foot, three-run homer to center in the ninth inning, turning a two-run deficit into a 7-6 Cardinals win over Colorado. The blast swung Colorado's win probability from 78% to 24% — a 54-point collapse on a single swing.

St. Louis looked like the team in control for most of the afternoon. Colorado drew first blood in the first on a Goodman sacrifice fly, but the Cardinals answered immediately in the second — Gorman singled to right to tie it, then Saggese doubled to center to put STL ahead 2-1. The lead grew to 4-1 by the fifth, with Burleson reaching on an infield single to score Church, and Walker's sacrifice attempt turning into a double play that still managed to plate Torres. Four runs on the board, Pallante limiting Colorado to 2 hits over 5 innings — it looked like a comfortable afternoon for St. Louis.

Then the sixth inning happened, and it happened fast. Two Rincón wild pitches let Rumfield score — twice, per the play-by-play — cutting the lead to 4-2. Carrigg followed with a 428-foot shot to center to make it 4-3. Then Amador singled to right to score Norby and tie the game at four, and Veen's sacrifice bunt scored Johnston to give Colorado a 5-4 lead. Five runs in one inning, all without a Cardinals answer. Rumfield added a 441-foot solo shot to right center in the seventh to push it to 6-4, and Colorado's bullpen — specifically Mark Manfredi, who threw 2.0 scoreless innings with 2 strikeouts and zero baserunners — looked like it would hold the door shut. The story of the night appeared to be Colorado's stunning sixth-inning rally erasing a three-run lead and flipping the game entirely.

Except Herrera had other ideas. With Saggese and Fermín on base in the ninth, Herrera drove a 430-foot homer to center that scored all three and put St. Louis ahead 7-6 for good. That's 3 RBI on the night for Herrera, who finished 2-for-5. Riley O'Brien closed it out with a clean inning — 1 hit, 0 runs, 2 strikeouts. For Colorado, Rumfield went 3-for-4 with a homer and 2 runs scored in a losing effort, and Carrigg added 2 hits and a home run of his own. It looks like this one will sting: Colorado's bullpen was dominant until the moment it wasn't, and Herrera made sure that one moment was the only one that mattered.