ST. LOUIS_First, there was a cat. Then there was a slam.
The Cardinals-Royals game was briefly delayed in the bottom of the sixth inning with two outs and the bases loaded when an animal _ later revealed to be a small cat, possibly a kitten _ was running across the field, starting somewhere behind third base and heading out to center field, where a member of the grounds crew, Lucas Hackmann, finally caught up with it at the wall.
Hackmann got scratched a few times carrying the cat off the field _ he reported on Twitter he was OK, though he went to Barnes-Jewish Hospital for shots_and when they were safely in the stands and play resumed, Yadier Molina hit the next pitch he saw into the left field bleachers for a grand slam home run that put the suddenly offensively powerful Cardinals in the lead on their way to an 8-5 win at Busch Stadium on Wednesday night.
Before the game was even over, the Cardinals were running highlights of the cat running across the field with #rallycat, and then later, "Rally cat _ forever in our hearts."
The win was the fifth in a row for the Cardinals and moved them 1{ games back of the Chicago Cubs in the NL Central. The Cubs lost in San Francisco earlier in the day. It's the closest the Cardinals have been to first June 13.
The Cardinals came from behind twice to take the lead after falling behind 3-0 in the second. After fighting back to tie the game in the third, they went ahead on a home run by Jose Martinez in the fourth inning. But that lead didn't last long, as a two-run homer by Melky Cabrera put the Royals ahead 5-4. That lead went into sixth, when the cat and Molina teamed up to put the Cardinals ahead.
It was a tough night for starter Mike Leake, who gave up four hits on four straight pitches in the first inning to allow in two runs and then game up another in the third. He came out after five innings, allowing 11 hits and striking out five. Reliever Matt Bowman, who pitched the sixth inning and came out for a pinch hitter, got the win.
The Cardinals stranded seven runners on base in the first four innings, three of them with Molina at the plate. They scored two runs in the second, one in the third on a single by Jedd Gyorko and then got the Martinez home run.
In their past four games, the Cardinals have scored 13, 11, 10 and now eight runs, a total of 42 runs.
After falling behind 3-0 after 1{ innings, the Cardinals got their way back to even at 3-3 with two runs in the second and a run in the third, chasing Royals starter Trevor Cahill from the game on Wednesday night at Busch Stadium.
The Cardinals failed to take the lead thanks to a diving stop by second baseman Whit Merrifield on a ground ball by Leake with the bases loaded and the infield in. Merrifield stopped what looked like it would slip through the infield, flipped the ball to shortstop Alcides Escobar for the force at second and his throw to first beat Leake for the inning-ending double play.
But before that, the Cardinals got even. Dexter Fowler led off with a walk and stole second. After Molina flew out to shallow left, Gyorko singled to left, scoring Fowler. A walk to Kolten Wong chased Cahill from the game and brought on Scott Alexander, who gave up an infield hit to Randal Grichuk to load the bases. But Merrifield, who hits in each of this first two at-bats, ended the inning.
The Cardinals scored twice against the Royals in the second inning, but couldn't get the tying run home from third with one out and trail 3-2 after two innings.
