RetroSimba

With one pitch, Rob Murphy earned redemption, Jason Motte ignited an unusual double play and Randy Choate escaped a bases-loaded jam.

Murphy, Motte and Choate are among six Cardinals who threw just one pitch in a game and got a win.

Al Brazle was the first Cardinals pitcher to do so, in 1948, and Choate was the most recent, in 2014. Here’s a look:

AL BRAZLE, July 18, 1948

The Cardinals were playing the Dodgers in the first game of a doubleheader at St. Louis. In the 11th inning, the Dodgers had runners on first and second with one out and the score tied at 3-3. Cardinals manager Eddie Dyer brought in Brazle, a left-hander, to replace Red Munger and face left-handed batter Marv Rackley.

Dodgers manager Burt Shotton countered, sending Bruce Edwards, a right-handed batter, to pinch-hit for Rackley.

Edwards swung at Brazle’s first pitch and grounded into a double play.

When Terry Moore slugged a three-run home run with two outs off Erv Palica in the bottom half of the 11th, the Cardinals had a 6-3 victory and Brazle got the win. Boxscore

ROB MURPHY, June 21, 1994

With two outs, the score tied at 4-4 and Expos runners on first and third in the ninth inning, Cardinals manager Joe Torre lifted Rene Arocha and replaced him with Murphy.

Torre wanted Murphy, a left-handed pitcher, to face Larry Walker, a left-handed batter.

The move took courage and conviction. The night before, Walker belted a home run off Murphy, tying the score. One out later, Murphy gave up a homer to Wil Cordero and took the loss.

This time, Walker swung at Murphy’s first pitch and hit a high chopper along the first-base line.

Murphy pounced off the mound, fielded the ball and made a backhand flip to first in time to retire Walker, who dived across the bag.

“I couldn’t turn and throw the ball,” Murphy told Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “I had to do the (backhand) option.”

In the bottom of the ninth, Expos closer John Wetteland retired the first two Cardinals batters. Then, Todd Zeile singled, Mark Whiten walked and Bernard Gilkey laced a long single that bounced over the left-field wall, scoring Zeile and giving the Cardinals a 5-4 victory. Murphy got the win. Boxscore

An emotional Murphy, who had gotten into a scuffle with teammate Allen Watson during batting practice, said he was grateful Torre gave him a chance to face Walker a day after yielding the home run to him.

“Joe has been great with me,” Murphy said. “I know that if I have a bad one, he’s going to get me back in there. The same guy (Walker) _ that only gets me more pumped up.”

JULIAN TAVAREZ, Aug. 25, 2004

In the eighth inning at Cincinnati, with the score tied at 4-4, the Reds had one on with two outs. Tavarez relieved Steve Kline and, with his first pitch, got Jason LaRue to ground out.

The Cardinals scored in the ninth when Reggie Sanders, pinch-running for Mike Matheny, scampered home from third on a wild pitch by Joe Valentine.

Jason Isringhausen held the Reds scoreless in the bottom half of the inning, giving Tavarez the win in a 6-5 Cardinals triumph. Boxscore

JASON MOTTE, April 21, 2009

With one pitch, Motte earned his first major-league win.

Carlos Beltran of the Mets was on second base with one out in the eighth and the score tied at 4-4 when Motte relieved Dennys Reyes. Ramon Castro was at the plate. He swung at Motte’s first pitch and flied out to right. Beltran tagged and headed to third.

Right fielder Ryan Ludwick unleashed a throw that nearly arrived ahead of Beltran. Instead, it clanked off the glove of third baseman Joe Thurston and caromed toward the mound. As Thurston pursued the ball, Beltran hesitated slightly, then broke for home plate.

Thurston retrieved the ball and, from the mound, threw home. Beltran didn’t slide and was tagged out by catcher Yadier Molina.

Double play.

“I just threw the ball and looked and saw ‘out,’ ” Thurston told Derrick Goold of the Post-Dispatch.

Said Beltran to the New York Daily News: “I was running and looking at the ball. I didn’t realize how close I was from home plate … I didn’t react right away. It took time for me to react. If I would have reacted right away, I would have made it.”

The Cardinals scored twice in the bottom half of the inning. Ryan Franklin held the Mets scoreless in the ninth, earning the save in a 6-4 Cardinals victory. Boxscore

KYLE McCLELLAN, Sept. 13, 2011

With the score tied at 4-4 in the eighth, the Pirates had two outs and none on. Ludwick, now with the Pirates, was at the plate. Cardinals manager Tony La Russa wanted a right-hander to face Ludwick. So he lifted left-hander Arthur Rhodes and replaced him with McClellan.

Ludwick swung at McClellan’s first pitch and flied out. The Cardinals scored twice in the ninth. Motte held the Pirates scoreless in the bottom half of the inning, earning the save. McClellan got the win in a 6-4 Cardinals victory. Boxscore

RANDY CHOATE, June 14, 2014

In the seventh inning, the Nationals had the bases loaded with two outs and the score tied at 1-1. Choate relieved Shelby Miller. With one pitch, Choate got Denard Span to ground out. The Cardinals scored three runs in the bottom half of the inning and won, 4-1. Choate got the win. Boxscore