Cardinals Edge Reds 10-9 After Dramatic Ninth-Inning Dropped Fly Ball

The St. Louis Cardinals secured a wild 10-9 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on August 20, 2026, overcoming a late deficit after a disastrous ninth-inning dropped fly ball by outfielder Dane Myers at Great American Ball Park capped a series victory for the visitors.

Baseball can turn on a single rotation of white leather, and few games during the 2026 Major League Baseball season will match the sheer chaos of Thursday afternoon in Cincinnati. What began as a tightly contested divisional battle dissolved into a frantic ninth-inning spectacle that left both clubhouses reeling. When the dust settled on the final out, the Cardinals walked away with a 10-9 triumph that clinched a 3-2 series win and moved them within 2.5 games of the final National League wild card spot, while sinking the Reds to seven games back in the race.

Jordan Walker’s Early Swing and McGreevy’s Steady Start

The afternoon initially promised a more conventional script for the visitors. St. Louis opened the scoring in the top of the first when JJ Wetherholt was hit in the hamstring by Cincinnati starter Brady Singer. Wetherholt shook off the training examination, advanced on an Iván Herrera single and an Alec Burleson flyout, and crossed the plate when Jordan Walker grounded into a force out.

Walker expanded that advantage in the third inning by turning on an 83 mph slider from Singer, launching a 407-foot, 3-run homer that barely cleared the centerfield wall. That blast marked Walker’s 26th home run of the year and his second home run in two games, and briefly tied him for the major league lead with 94 RBI before later developments in the game.

On the mound, Cardinals starter Michael McGreevy delivered five scoreless innings, pacing his pitch count and keeping the Cincinnati bats quiet. But the sixth inning proved treacherous once again. McGreevy walked a batter, surrendered a single, and loaded the bases with one out before manager Oli Marmol summoned Ryan Stanek from the bullpen. Stanek yielded an RBI single to JJ Bleday before Matt McLain crushed a 91 mph splitter into a go-ahead grand slam, turning a comfortable St. Louis advantage into a 5-4 deficit.

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Ninth-Inning Implosion and Myers’ Dropped Fly Ball

St. Louis remained quiet through the seventh and eighth innings, setting up a fateful top of the ninth against Reds reliever Brock Burke. José Fermín singled as a pinch-hitter, and Bryan Torres reached when umpires ruled he was hit in the fingers during a sacrifice bunt attempt. After an out advanced the runners, another strikeout left the Cardinals down to their final out.

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That is when Wetherholt lifted a routine fly ball into left-center field. Cincinnati left fielder TJ Friedl, who had entered as a late defensive replacement, converged alongside center fielder Dane Myers. Myers ranged a considerable distance to call off Friedl, but the ball clanged off his leather to stun the afternoon crowd, allowing two runs to score and giving St. Louis a 6-5 lead.

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The floodgates immediately broke wide open. An intentional walk to Herrera loaded the base paths before Alec Burleson’s single drove in another run, a subsequent bases-loaded walk forced home a fourth run of the frame, and Fermín returned to the plate to single home two more, swelling the advantage to 10-5.

Bullpen Fatigue and the Exhausting Realities of August Baseball

Holding a five-run cushion in the bottom of the ninth should have been academic, but the Cardinals’ relief corps was visibly exhausted after a grueling five-game series stretch without flipping any guys. George Soriano walked the leadoff batter, surrendered a run to Eugenio Suárez, walked another, and saw his lead evaporate as Sal Stewart laced a two-run single. When another walk loaded the bases, Marmol turned to closer Riley O’Brien, who finally secured the 27th out when Matt McLain lined out to Jordan Walker in right field.

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“I was very happy with that catch,” O’Brien said. “I was begging him to catch it.”

Photo: MLB.com

Riley O’Brien

Postgame remarks from the visiting dugout emphasized the immense physical toll exacted by a punishing summer schedule. Relief appearances piling up 10 times in 12 days expose workloads that television broadcasts rarely capture.

“The offensive line of the team is the bullpen. Nobody cares about how it looks. All they care about is the zero.”

Ryne Stanek

For Marmol, the priority after navigating such a frantic finish was simple decompression before boarding the charter flight to Pennsylvania. I’m going to shower. I’m going to have an adult beverage, and I’m going to get on the plane and not think about that one, the manager told reporters, acknowledging the multitude of factors that nearly gave the game away before the bullpen crossed the finish line.

The Cardinals now travel to Philadelphia to open a weekend series on Friday, where LHP Jesús Luzardo is slated to take the mound.