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Cardinals win on controversial walk-off double from Yadier Molina

It always helps to have a little bit of devil magic on your side. The St. Louis Cardinals kept themselves firmly in the National League wild card race with a huge, walk-off win over the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday. Problem is, the hit that won the game may not have been called properly.

With two outs in the ninth inning, catcher Yadier Molina stepped to the plate with a man on first. On the 2-0 pitch, Molina lined a ball deep to left field. The ball bounced off the ground just prior to reaching the wall, and appeared to hit the area one of the advertisements just above the wall in left field. The runner on first base came around to score, and it looked as though the Cardinals won the game.

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Not so fast. There’s actually some uncertainty as to whether the area above the left field wall is in play. According to some, Molina’s hit should have resulted in a ground-rule double.

Had the play been ruled a ground-rule double, the game-winning run would have only reached third. The Reds still would have had a chance to keep the Cardinals off the board and move on to the 10th inning.

They didn’t get that opportunity. The umpires ruled Matt Carpenter safe at home on the play, and began walking off the field shortly after the call. Reds manager Brian Price came out of the dugout and chased after the umpires, but the result remained.

The Cardinals picked up a walk-off win Thursday, but it's not clear whether they should have. (Getty Images/Dilip Vishwanat)
The Cardinals picked up a walk-off win Thursday, but it’s not clear whether they should have. (Getty Images/Dilip Vishwanat)

After the game, the umpires explained that Price had run out of the time to challenge the play. As such, the call stood.

While a Cardinals win doesn’t really impact the Reds at this point, the team is livid about the ruling.

Ultimately, the San Francisco Giants and New York Mets may have the bigger gripe. With the Cardinals just a half game out of a wild card spot in the NL, the controversial ruling could drastically alter the playoff race with just a few games left in the regular season.

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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik