Kyle Lohse Helps Cardinals Advance Past Atlanta

Steve Mohan in Entertainment. Discussion »

ATLANTA – Kyle Lohse has flown under the radar all season and the wild card game against the Atlanta team was no different. Lohse pitched a strong 5.2 innings allowing 2 runs on 6 hits with 1 walk and 6 strikeouts. He earned the victory in the 6 to 3 win against Atlanta but all that will be remembered from this game is controversial call that has Atlanta fans in an uproar.

Kyle Lohse - Paskenta Band of Nomlaki

The Atlanta team was down by 3 runs with runners on first and second in the bottom of the 8th innings. Andrelton Simmons came up to bat with 1 out and proceeded to pop out to shallow left field. That is when things got interesting. Cardinals shortstop Pete Kozma backed up into the outfield and then stopped and let the ball hit onto the grass in front of outfielder Matt Holliday. Atlanta thought they had the bases loaded and were in position to come from behind.

Sam Holbrook called an infield fly rule. By rule it meant that Simmons was out but the two runners on base were allowed to advance to 2nd and 3rd. The Atlanta crowd erupted in anger and threw all kinds of debris onto the field. Both teams were called off the field until order was restored. After play resumed, Jason Motte walked Brian McCann and then struck out Michael Bourn and the game was all but over.

The infield fly rule is when during a pop fly the umpire calls the runner out no matter if a catch is made or not and the runners can try to advance at their own risk. The infield fly rule is a judgment call and is in place so the defense cannot trick base runners by dropping the ball on purpose to get a double play.

This game will be remembered for that call while many will forget the good performance that Kyle Lohse had in a Cardinals win. The Cardinals now move on to play the Washington Nationals on Sunday.

posted October 6, 2012 6:00 am edt