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ST. LOUIS *— The problem with the Milwaukee Brewers' beast-mode celebration is that it doesn't afford many natural opportunities for the pitchers to take part. There's either another batter to face, baseball manners to obey or a bulky glove getting in the way of making that crucial second claw. Better to give the signal back to a batter from the dugout than look for a spot to be the main monster, right?
Randy Wolf, though, found a good spot during Thursday's 4-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 4 of the NLCS at Busch Stadium. After hitting a double in the top of the third, the lefthander pulled into second and got his Prince Fielder on. Though it wasn't necessarily the type of beast-like effort you'd expect from a man named Wolf, he would go onto finish off the impersonation by returning to the mound and evening the series with seven solid innings of two-run ball.
In doing so, Wolf became just the first of eight starting pitchers to post a quality start in this NLCS — or, heck, even record an out in the seventh inning. For a team facing an intimidating 3-1 series hole, it was the biggest type of performance the Brewers could receive.
"We needed it," said Brewers manager Ron Roenicke. "He came through big, got us deep into the game. Outstanding job from him."
But the 35-year-old vet did enter the game with plenty of experience, particularly against these Cardinals. Four of his five starts against St. Louis in 2011 came after Aug. 1 and so he had the benefit of familiarity. His record at Busch Stadium in that span was 2-0 with a 1.12 ERA.
Even his two mistakes on Thursday weren't really "mistakes." The homer he allowed to Matt Holliday in the top of the second inning looked like a routine fly ball down the right field line .... until it carried ... and carried ... and made its way into stands for a home run.
Afterward, Wolf joked that he, catcher George Kottaras and Holliday himself were shocked that the ball made it over the wall (their body language during the play backed that up).
"We were all kind of surprised that went out," Wolf said. "But (Holliday is) a strong enough guy. It's like trying to pitch to Brian Urlacher. He's a beast."
The only other run that Wolf allowed came via homer, a solid pitch low in the zone that Allen Craig simply won the battle on and hammered out to right center. But other than those two pitches, Wolf was effective, striking out six Cardinals while limiting their opportunities. He finished his night by setting down the Brewers in order in the seventh — his third 1-2-3 inning of the frame — avoiding what would have been his fourth matchup with Albert Pujols, who went 1-for-3 against Wolf.
Of course, it goes without saying that any time a pitcher limits his face-to-face meetings with Pujols to three and left the game under his own power, he has probably had a good night.
Thursday's performance not only ensured that we're a step closer to this series being the type of full-distance thriller we expected, but it also provided Wolf with a big sense of redemption after his night in Arizona — a gift that Wolf was only too happy to claim.
"The day after the Diamondbacks start, I didn't eat or shower that day," Wolf said. "I don't know if they call that depression, but it was tough to swallow. So I was just really happy that we came through (in the NLDS). (Yovani Gallardo) came through in that Game 5 and I was assured another opportunity to be back on the mound.
"You know, you just don't want to have just one opportunity and have it to be like it was ... Regardless of what the result was, I just wanted to be back out there and have some kind of — it's kind of a weird word, but it's redemption to just go back out there."