Phamtastic! OF comes up clutch for Cards in comeback 'W'

CHICAGO -- The friendly relationship between Oliver Marmol and Tommy Pham dates to 2007, so when the Cardinals manager phoned the veteran slugger earlier this week following the trade that brought Pham back to St. Louis, there was no need for frivolous pleasantries.

Already as serious-minded and fiery as ever, Pham cut right to the chase with Marmol and let him know that he was ready for the work that was ahead.

“I called him when we made the trade, and before he even said, ‘Hello,’ he said, ‘I’m looking at the standings, and we’re going to get this thing done,’” recalled Marmol, still a bit incredulous over Pham’s no-nonsense approach to the task at hand. “Those were the first words out of his mouth.”

Going from the historically bad White Sox team to a Cardinals club in the thick of a playoff race has been like injecting jet fuel into the bloodstream of the ultra-competitive Pham, who tripled off Wrigley Field’s ivy-covered walls in Saturday’s ninth inning and scored the go-ahead run in a 5-4 win vs. the Cubs.

With the Cardinals having dropped the first two games of the four-game series and looking at a potential loss most of Saturday before coming back late, Pham proved himself to be a worthy difference-maker once again. He hit a pinch-hit grand slam in his first at-bat back with the Cardinals on Tuesday, and his 100.1 mph liner for a triple to lead off the ninth inning might have been even more clutch. These are the types of games that Pham craved when he got word he was headed to a Cardinals club hoping to run down the Brewers and win the NL Central Division.

“Once you get a taste of the postseason, you always want to go back,” said Pham, who has been to the postseason four times, including with the Cardinals in 2015 and with a D-backs squad that reached the World Series last fall. “It’s the best time of the year to play baseball. We have a lot of guys on this team that have that experience. … I would love to get back to the World Series.”

Down 4-1 after two innings, the Cardinals had to scramble on Saturday to put Pham in a position to try and win the game. Still looking for their first hit with runners in scoring position in Saturday’s eighth inning, the Cardinals got some help from the Cubs defense. After Brendan Donovan delivered an infield single with two on and two out, Chicago third baseman Isaac Paredes threw wildly to first to score a run.

Then, center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong called second baseman Nico Horner off a short fly ball only to misplay it into a two-run single for Nolan Arenado that knotted the score at 4.

“They just didn’t give in, and we had had a couple of tough losses here,” Marmol said. “Especially when you’re down [three runs] after two [innings], to continue to fight it was impressive. There was some frustration there, but the guys continued to fight, and it was good to see.”

After the Cards tied the game in the eighth, Pham wasted no time in helping St. Louis grab control in the ninth. Leading off the inning, he hit a 1-1 slider in the heart of the plate toward the wall in left-center field. Cubs left fielder Ian Happ made a valiant effort to make the catch, but the ball came free, and a hustling Pham never broke stride in taking third for the triple. Earlier in the game, Pham hustled out of the box on a short fly ball to right field, and he ended up with a double when the wind-blown ball was deflected by Seiya Suzuki and rolled away.

Lars Nootbaar, who drove in Pham with a sacrifice fly, marveled at the impact Pham has had in a short period of time. In five games, Pham is 8-for-17 (.471) with four extra-base hits and seven RBIs.

“He came in here with a purpose, and it’s been a hot start for him,” said Nootbaar, who could become the every day center fielder with Michael Siani (oblique strain) potentially out. “Being able to watch [Pham] compete, that’s contagious for everybody.”

Pham has been readying himself for the playoff race since that first call with Marmol, and he’s excited about playing in meaningful games again.

“As soon as I got traded, I was looking at the standings and I saw that we were six games back from the division lead,” he said. “I looked at the schedule and I see that we play the Brewers a lot. So, it’s going to be some exciting baseball coming up. I just want to make sure that I’m ready for it and contribute to this team.”