Fall once, stand up twice.
In San Francisco Giants’ second baseman Marco Scutaro’s case: Get taken out by a dirty slide once, score thrice.
Game 2 of the NLCS saw a questionable slide into second base by St. Louis Cardinals left fielder Matt Holliday that took out Scutaro, resulting in him falling and wincing in pain.
It also eventually led to Scutaro being taken out of the game in the sixth inning.
But the damage had already been done.
Scutaro, who has been one of the Giants’ more clutch players this year, came up big in the fourth inning.
He took a pitch from St. Louis Cardinals’ pitcher Chris Carpenter and drove it to the left fielder that had taken him out at second base, Holliday.
His vengeful hit essentially drove in three runs, as Holliday fumbled the ball before he finally threw it in.
The Giants went on to win the game 7-1 and tie the series at one apiece. It was obvious the takeout slide inspired not only Scutaro, but also the whole San Francisco team.
The bad news for the Cardinals is that Scutaro is back and ready to play.
Next time St. Louis decides they want to play dirty, they better think of the consequences.
Reach the reporter at gdemano@asu.edu
