In his major-league debut, Cardinals reliever John Costello escaped an inherited bases-loaded jam, struck out the side in the next inning and earned the win.
Twenty-six years later, on June 16, 2014, Nick Greenwood became the first Cardinals reliever to earn a win in his major-league debut since Costello did so on June 2, 1988, at Philadelphia.
Costello and Greenwood achieved their feats under very different circumstances.
Greenwood, 26, a left-hander, relieved starter Carlos Martinez to begin the fifth inning with the Cardinals leading the Mets, 2-1, at St. Louis. Greenwood held the Mets to a run in 3.1 innings and the Cardinals won, 6-2. Greenwood got the win because Martinez didn’t pitch the necessary five innings for a starter to qualify for a win. Boxscore
Costello, 27, a right-hander, was brought in by manager Whitey Herzog to replace reliever Steve Peters with the score tied at 2-2 in the 13th inning at Philadelphia. The Phillies had the bases loaded and one out.
“I didn’t have much alternative,” Herzog told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Tough spot
The Cardinals had used six pitchers in the game after also using six the night before in a 13-inning victory against the Astros at Houston.
Said Herzog: “That was a hell of a place to put him in.”
After Herzog handed the ball to Costello and left the mound, catcher Tony Pena began a conversation with the newcomer. According to the Post-Dispatch, the talk went like this:
Pena: “What you got?”
Costello: “I’ve got three pitches _ fastball, slider, changeup.”
Then Costello told Pena to forget about the latter two and just call for the fastball.
“When he started laughing,” Costello told United Press International, “that broke the nervousness.”
Costello had another reason to focus on fastballs. He was experiencing stiffness in his right shoulder. “But the adrenaline took over and took the pain away,” Costello told the Post-Dispatch.
The first batter he faced, Chris James, hit a short fly out to right and the runners held. The next batter, Mike Young, flied out to left, ending the threat.
Pressure no problem
In the 14th, Cardinals cleanup hitter Tom Brunansky walked, stole second and scored on a two-out infield single by Pena.
Costello, throwing fastballs only, struck out all three Phillies he faced in the bottom half of the inning (Bill Almon, Danny Clay, Juan Samuel), earning the win in the Cardinals’ 3-2 triumph. Boxscore
“If I can handle that pressure right there, I guess I can handle some more along the line,” Costello said to the Post-Dispatch.
Said Herzog: “He was sneaky (fast), the way they were swinging. We’ll put him back out there.”
Costello, chosen by St. Louis in the 24th round of the 1983 amateur draft, went on to have a spectacular rookie season for the 1988 Cardinals. He was 5-2 with a save and a 1.81 earned run average in 36 games.
In 1989, Costello followed up with a 5-4 record, 3 saves and a 3.32 ERA in 48 games.
On April 23, 1990, the Cardinals traded Costello to the Expos for utility player Rex Hudler. Costello finished his big-league career with the 1991 Padres. In four major-league seasons, Costello was 11-6 with 4 saves and a 2.97 ERA in 119 games.
Previously: How Jose Oquendo became a Cardinals catcher
