PITTSBURGH - Michael Wacha heard the chants. Then again, when 40,000 people clad in black scream your name relentlessly for the better part of three hours, it’s kind of hard to miss.
The goal was to rattle Wacha, a 22-year-old St. Louis rookie, remind him that pitchers barely one year removed from college baseball aren’t expected to withstand the pressure of an elimination game.
But the louder it got at PNC Park, the more unhittable Wacha became.
“I kind of like it,” Wacha said. “It kind of gives me adrenaline. I kind of use it in my favor.”
And the Pittsburgh Pirates - not to mention anyone else he might face in the postseason - “kind of” need to get used to it.
Wacha took a no-hit bid into the eighth inning and the Cardinals showed off their October poise, edging the Pirates 2-1 Monday to force a winner-take-all Game 5 in their National League division series. St. Louis is 7-1 over the past three years with its season on the line.
“I think you take high-talent and high-character people that are motivated and support each other, and they don’t give up,” Cardinals Manager Mike Matheny said.“That’s a tough combination.”
Pittsburgh didn’t go down before generating one huge roar from the home crowd.
Pedro Alvarez hit his third home run of the series, connecting with one out in the eighth for Pittsburgh’s only hit in Game 4. It wasn’t enough for the Pirates to advance to the NL championship series for the first time in 21 years.
“I guess that’s why we play five,” Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen said. “We’ll be ready for the fifth one.”
Wacha made it look like the Pirates weren’t quite ready for game 4. He walked two and struck out nine before giving way to the bullpen in the eighth.
Matt Holliday’s two-run home run off Charlie Morton in the sixth was all the offense the Cardinals needed on a day when their pitchers held a postseason opponent to one hit for first time in the club’s lengthy postseason history.
Trevor Rosenthal worked around a two-out walk in the ninth, retiring McCutchen on a popup to shallow center for his first postseason save.
“It was a good pitch for him,” McCutchen said. “I wish it got a little more of the barrel. It would have been a great story.”
Game 5 will be Wednesday in St. Louis, with ace Adam Wainwright starting for the NL Central champion Cardinals and rookie Gerrit Cole going for the Pirates. Both pitchers are 1-0 in the series.
The Cardinals finished with only three hits, and that was enough. Holliday got two of them, including his home run in the sixth after Morton walked big-hitting Carlos Beltran to start the inning.
“You could go back and look at pitches over and over again and second guess yourself,” Morton said. “I don’t know where that pitch was. It was outer third somewhere, thigh-down and he went out and got it, he’s strong.”
So was Wacha, barely a year removed from a standout college career at Texas A&M. He didn’t permit a runner until walking Russell Martin leading off the sixth.
Alvarez got the fans at PNC Park roaring with his homer, and Wacha followed by walking Martin on four pitches. The roar faded when Carlos Martinez relieved and catcher Yadier Molina made a key play, throwing out pinch-runner Josh Harrison after a botched hit-and-run attempt.
Martinez struck out Jose Tabata to end the eighth, and Rosenthal took over to begin the ninth. Neil Walker drew a two-out walk before Mc-Cutchen made the final out, to set up a 24th meeting between the two teams.
“That’s what it’s all about,” Rosenthal said. “That’s what you dream of, you dream of two outs in the bottom of the ninth, you know … bases loaded, the best hitter up, and getting out of that spot.”
Sports, Pages 17 on 10/08/2013