Ah, September 2011 … how we miss you. And 2011 Cubs, how we miss you as well.

Before this afternoon’s Cardinals-Cubs contest gets underway, let’s take a trip back to a happier time. Sure, it tense and crazy as the Cards were battling for a wild-card spot five years ago — but it was so different than today, in so many ways. (Better in some ways too … like the standings.)

The come-from-behind walk-off-wild-pitch win is one of those memorable moments from the magical September run of the 2011 Cardinals. And, five years later, Carlos Marmol remains the Cardinals star of that game.

Here’s the AMF post from five years ago. (Check out the link at the very end too.)

Whatever It Takes To Win

The bottom of the ninth inning in today’s game was every baseball cliche imaginable. It literally was a must-win, do-or-die game to keep alive the Cardinals hopes of catching the Braves in the wild card race. They honestly were down to their last strike — not once, not twice, but three times.

And they did it. They won, 2-1 … in the most unconventional way imaginable.

The game until that point was a frustration. The Cubs had scored their run in the first inning on three singles, half of the hits that Kyle Lohse allowed during his seven innings of work. He struck out eight, walked none and, at one point, retired 10 Cubs in a row. Meanwhile, the Cardinals only had four hits off Rodrigo Lopez through his six innings and had been retired in order by Andrew Cashner and Sean Marshall.

The Cardinals bullpen settled down from its challenges the past two games — Octavio Dotel, Marc Rzepczynski and Jason Motte retired all six batters they faced in the eighth and ninth. Continue reading →