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The plan decided upon Sunday evening after missing two days with groin and leg pain was for Brendan Donovan not to be in the lineup Monday but treat the entire day as preparation as if he was. He would take his batting practice, he would take his groundballs, and if the soreness didn鈥檛 take anything from his movements, he would be available late in the game, if needed.

鈥淥f course, when you say that,鈥� he said, 鈥渋t鈥檚 going to happen.鈥�

Oh, it happened.

A meandering game started with Miles Mikolas teasing a no-hitter into the sixth inning, lulled like the Cardinals鈥� offense for long stretches, and continued with the lowly Rockies taking a lead in the seventh before ultimately luring Donovan from the dugout in the eighth. The Cardinals鈥� lone All-Star missed two games due to an injury that has its roots before the All-Star break and has contributed to his .188 average since it. He emerged as a pinch-hitter with two runners on and zero swings in a game since Friday.

Donovan scooped a low, two-strike slider into the right-field corner for a two-run double that flipped the score and hoisted the Cardinals to a 3-2 victory Monday at Busch Stadium.

鈥淒onnie getting of his butt after a three-, four-day vacation and finally doing something, right?鈥� Mikolas deadpanned after the win. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 huge. He鈥檚 an All-Star. That鈥檚 what he鈥檚 supposed to do. He鈥檚 got to carry that All-Star badge with him so he鈥檚 got to do those things on a regular basis. Save us when we need him.鈥�

The Cardinals鈥� fifth win in their past seven games and sixth in their nine games since selling at the trade deadline was arguably their most complicated yet.

Down three reliable arms in the bullpen due to trades, the Cardinals also did not have their late-inning relievers JoJo Romero and Riley O鈥橞rien on Monday due to their roles in winning the weekend series against the Cubs. Donovan was not in the starting lineup, and until the moment he went to the plate the Cardinals had no plans to use him in the field. That changed when a) they had a chance to win and b) injuries shortened their bench further. Lars Nootbaar left the game with a bruised left knee after cracking a foul ball off of it. That forced Jordan Walker into the game for Nootbaar, and when Garrett Hampson came off the bench to pinch-run as the potential tying run, manager Oliver Marmol was assured of exhausting his bench.

All 13 position players appeared in the game, three of them off the bench in the eighth as part of the decisive rally.

鈥淎 lot of moving parts,鈥� Marmol said.

And there was a part not working in the batting cage.

The torrential rains Sunday before the Cardinals鈥� victory against the Cubs flooded the dugouts and batting cages on both sides of the field. The water in the Cardinals鈥� cage meant their cutting-edge Trajekt pitching machine was not operable Monday, Donovan said. Trajekt allows hitters to see specific pitches from specific pitchers, and without it that changed some of Donovan鈥檚 preparation for his pinch-hit appearance.

He had not faced live pitching since Friday, not taken a swing since Saturday before going through Monday鈥檚 workouts 鈥� and then into the game to face a fastball.

鈥淎nd 98 mph with cut,鈥� he said.

The Cardinals took a 1-0 lead on a rally spurred by Victor Scott II鈥檚 30th stolen base of the season and lost that 1-0 lead on three singles against Mikolas. During the shifting score, Donovan sat beside fellow pinch-hit candidate Yohel Pozo and read the game. They agreed they were likely to face Rockies reliever Juan Mejia when they entered the game. They called up video of the right-hander on the iPad.

Without the Trajekt, Donovan said they dialed the pitching machine to throw a cut fastball and a hard breaking ball to simulate Mejia.

In his at-bat, Donovan saw both of those pitches.

With Hampson at second base pinch-running for Nolan Gorman and Thomas Saggese at first after his third hit of the game, Mejia started Donovan with three consecutive fastballs. The second touched 98 mph and Donovan fouled it off. Ahead in the count, 1-2, Mejia sent a slider at 84.2 mph and diving in on Donovan. He pulled it for the game-winning double.

鈥淗asn鈥檛 played in a couple of days and to go out there and take a big at-bat in a big moment,鈥� Marmol said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 an awesome swing there. Worked out perfectly.鈥�

Donovan has not felt so awesome with his swing recently.

The Cardinals鈥� leadoff hitter came out of the break and went 13 for 69 (.188) with a slugging percentage (.261) hugging close to his on-base percentage (.260). The stretch sank his batting average from flirting with .300 to .278 before his pinch-hit double. Donovan recently looked at the underlying metrics during the skid and was encouraged by the exit velocity of his hits and lack of chase from his swings 鈥� but something still felt off.

For two months, Donovan has been playing through a toe injury, and adjusting for its pain led to other issues. He traced the soreness in his groin to the body compromising one area to compensate for an injury elsewhere. A hitter鈥檚 base is essential to his swing, and Donovan has felt that shift as well. Just seeing the advanced data on his swings wasn鈥檛 enough because he sensed a change to the angle of his swing.

His posture at the plate drifted due to the sore toe or the sore groin, and that is finally what prompted him to relent to the injury Saturday and take two days to remedy it.

鈥淚 think it was just getting my leg healthy,鈥� Donovan said. 鈥淭he reason why I decided to say something was I thought the leg started to kind of mess with me a little bit. For me, I鈥檓 big on angles. And my angles aren鈥檛 good. Why aren鈥檛 my angles good? Posture. I haven鈥檛 been in good spots. Why haven鈥檛 I been in good spots with my posture? Well, my back leg was kind of bugging a little bit. That鈥檚 what I had it boiled down to.鈥�

Two days off the leg helped him feel better about his posture at the plate.

Then all he had to do was, ho-hum, the difficult role of delivering in the eighth inning, down by a run, as a pinch-hitter.

And, because Hampson went in the game, they had to do what they planned on not doing: Donovan was at the plate when he realized he would play the field. The second out of the ninth inning came bounding to him and he converted it. A popup to Pozo finished the game and Kyle Leahy鈥檚 scoreless 2 1/3 innings of relief. Donovan鈥檚 double and the win it provided trimmed a 陆 game off the Mets鈥� lead for the National League鈥檚 third wild card. The Cardinals are now three games behind a playoff berth 鈥� with a friendly schedule in the coming weeks.

A question about the trade deadline and moving veteran relievers for the future prompted Donovan late Monday night to remind the media of one thing they did not trade elsewhere.

Belief.

鈥淓ven though we did do a sell at the deadline, you still don鈥檛 lose belief,鈥� Donovan said. 鈥淚f you lose belief, you have nothing. I think that鈥檚 one thing this team has done a really nice job of 鈥� responding.鈥�