Second Thoughts

Rally squirrel reappears in Cardinals' win

A squirrel runs onto the field in the seventh inning of a baseball game be- tween the Detroit Tigers and the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday in Detroit. The incident delayed the game, but the Cardinals weren’t affected as they scored five runs after play resumed.
A squirrel runs onto the field in the seventh inning of a baseball game be- tween the Detroit Tigers and the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday in Detroit. The incident delayed the game, but the Cardinals weren’t affected as they scored five runs after play resumed.

After being bamboozled by Detroit lefthander Matthew Boyd on Saturday night, the St. Louis Cardinals similarly were flummoxed by Tigers righthander Michael Fulmer for the first six innings Sunday. And then a squirrel made an appearance at the start of the Cardinals' seventh.

Spurting across the diamond from third to first, the squirrel finally made its way down the right-field line and play resumed.

Cardinals veteran Adam Wainwright had seen this movie before. He had been sitting in the Cardinals' dugout some seven years ago when a squirrel ran near home plate with the Cardinals' Skip Schumaker at bat. The Cardinals would rally after the squirrel appeared and pulled out a division series victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.

"I said it right after that squirrel came out there. Rally squirrel," said Wainwright.

Revisionist history likely will note that the Cardinals then busted out for five runs Sunday to break open a scoreless tie as the visitors managed to snare one game of this three-game interleague series, 5-2.

Actually, the Cardinals had nothing stronger than a single in the inning. They had five of those in the seventh but only two of them made the outfield and the hardest hit ball was Yairo Munoz's liner to right which should have been caught but was whiffed on by right fielder Niko Goodrum.

"The power of the rally squirrel," Wainwright said. "It's amazing. We need more mascots. The rally squirrel, rally cat, rally salsa...

"That's crazy," said Wainwright. "People make the biggest deal about them, though."

PUTTING OUT OFFERS

A scoreless first half from the Dallas Cowboys had fans missing Dez Bryant, but the receiver is apparently not interested. Instead, he discussed joining the New England Patriots or Washington Redskins on Sunday.

"@DezBryant please come back, please have Kim, call Jerry first thing Monday," one fan tweeted.

Kim is Bryant's agent, Kim Maile. Jerry, of course, is Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones.

"Naw I'm ok.. I rather go somewhere I can show case my skills for real.. if I line up next to Gronk hogan Edelman I'm for sure getting a 1 on 1 match up plus I won't be getting criticized controlled for expressing my love for the game..Washington is cool as well," Bryant tweeted back.

Bryant was released by the Cowboys in April and remains a free agent beyond the start of the regular season, although he has promised he will be on the field at some point in 2018.

"I will play ball this year just might be a lil bit later in the year," he tweeted last month.

While his complaints about the Cowboys remain interesting, his interest in joining the Patriots holds more importance going forward.

With Julian Edelman currently serving a four-game suspension, New England is extremely thin at receiver with few proven players. Phillip Dorsett was the only receiver to have more than one catch in Sunday's 27-20 victory over the Houston Texans, finishing with seven receptions for 66 yards and a touchdown.

Chris Hogan and Cordarrelle Patterson each had one catch while the rest of the looks went to tight ends and running backs.

Meanwhile, the Redskins could also use some wideout help with Josh Doctson, Jamison Crowder and Paul Richardson all hoping to step into the spotlight after being secondary options in the past.

QUIZ

What is Adam Wainwright's career regular-season pitching record?

ANSWER

Wainwright is 147-84 in 13 seasons with St. Louis.

Sports on 09/10/2018

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