The St. Louis Cardinals won Sunday thanks to Nolan Arenado’s heroics, but it almost took his breath away. literally. Arenado made a full-speed, falling grab into the netting close to the third-base bleachers at Busch Stadium in the ninth inning of the Cardinals’ 4-3 victory against the Diamondbacks after chasing a foul pop-up off the bat of Ketel Marte. Arenado was left on the ground, holding his side and face down in agony, rather than relishing what could have been a highlight reel moment.
After the game, Arenado remarked, “It was pretty bad, and I was having trouble breathing there for a little while, so that was pretty tough.” It was difficult since I had never experienced that [type of agony] before. But, thank God, [the anguish] subsided.
Arenado claimed he sustained a hit to his left kidney area during the fall and temporarily lost his breath. He continued playing the game in spite of the fright, cooling the injured region and getting treatment after the game. He remarked, “I was out of breath for about a minute.” “I felt fine after I got it back.” I’m still a little sore, you know.
Nolan Arenado is feeling the pain after making the play of the year for the Cardinals
One batter later, reliever Phil Maton struck out Lourdes Gurriel Jr. to close the game and seal the Cardinals’ sweep of Arizona — their fourth sweep of the season — after the play saved a crucial out with runners on and kept the Cardinals in charge late.
Veteran pitcher Sonny Gray remarked, “I don’t know that we are where we are without him showing, sacrificing, and doing what he’s doing.”
Arenado’s fielding is still very good even if he has struggled at the bat this season. Even though he went 0-for-4 on Sunday and is still trying to find offensive consistency, his glove still speaks loudly. In addition, he made another diving stop on Saturday and struck a game-winning triple on Friday. The weekend series provided a reminder of why Arenado is considered one of the finest defensive third basemen in MLB history.
Manager Oliver Marmol declared, “He is unquestionably a Hall of Famer.” “One of the greatest third basemen in history — and he keeps proving it.”
With 10 Gold Gloves and eight All-Star selections, Arenado’s trophy case is already full, but he made it obvious a potential 11th Gold Glove would mean much more. “Winning it again would mean a lot to me,” Arenado remarked. “If I can get that [Gold Glove] back again, that would probably be the most special one.”
Now sitting only behind the Cubs in the NL Central, the Cardinals are 28-23 and have won 16 of their previous 20 games. Trade rumors involving Arenado may swiftly become postseason push talk if they keep up this momentum.
