51ºÚÁÏ

When he left the ballpark all he took with him was a dented ERA, a welt on his confidence, and concerns about an arm injury that would cost him most of the season.

The souvenirs were far better this year.

Back at the spot of his rocky debut for the Cardinals, O’Brien collected the first win of his major-league career Monday and the first big-league save of his career Wednesday. Instead of the baggage of a year ago, packed up with his gear for the flight back to 51ºÚÁÏ were four game-used baseballs from the win and the baseball from the final out of the save.

“I think about when we opened up the year here,� O’Brien said, “and how different I felt. Way more nerves. A little rattled out there. This year I feel comfortable.�

All signs pointed toward another Shohei Ohtani’s show at the start of the series finale Wednesday. The giveaway was a replica World Series championship ring with his name on it. The reigning National League MVP started the game on the mound and struck out eight, and he pitched half of his four innings with a lead he claimed with a two-run homer. Ohtani drove in more runs as a hitter than he allowed as a pitcher, and he earned more walks in the game than he issued.

But once Ohtani exhausted his limited pitch count and yielded the stage, a steady drumbeat of offense started for the Cardinals and built into the percussion of three late runs for a 5-3 victory and their 27th come-from-behind win of the year. The Cardinals won the three-game series in LA and the season series from LA, 4 games to 2. Jordan Walker’s third hit of Wednesday’s game – a two-out RBI single in the eighth – made it all happen.

The bullpen made it at all possible.

And there to capture how the Cardinals are using and challenging and auditioning and exploring their relievers in the wake of the trade deadline was O’Brien with two outings and two milestones.

“Hopefully it does a lot for his confidence,� manager Oliver Marmol said. “Especially able to do it here. You want to test it out somewhere, this is not a bad spot to do it.�

After trading veterans Ryan Helsley and Phil Maton from the back end of the bullpen, the Cardinals see O’Brien as the right-handed option to close games when the lone lefty, JoJo Romero, is required earlier in the game. Romero entered Wednesday’s game with the Cardinals trailing by a run and Ohtani at the plate. Romero struck out Ohtani and froze the game there ahead of the Cardinals’ eighth-inning rally for the lead. That left the final four outs for O’Brien.

All week at Dodger Stadium, Marmol discussed the bullpen in every pre-game conversation with the media. He detailed why he did not use Kyle Leahy in the middle of Tuesday’s game to try and hold a two-run deficit because he wanted Leahy available for Wednesday if they had a lead. (They did not, but Leahy’s 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief Wednesday bought time for the lead to surface later.) He explained why he might use some relievers in unexpected spots to see how they react, and he stressed the importance of seeing young relievers in overheated and loud crucibles like Dodger Stadium.

A day after using O’Brien in the eighth, Marmol gave a succinct reason why.

“He has to be able to pitch there,� the manager said.

O’Brien’s appearance Monday began with an at-bat against outfielder Teoscar Hernandez. The former Home Run Derby champion pounced on a pitch for a leadoff double, and he eventually scored despite O’Brien getting groundouts from the next three batters. On Wednesday, O’Brien entered with two outs in the eighth inning and a familiar batter at the plate: Hernandez. This time, the right-hander got a groundout.

“You let him do it again and see what happens,� Marmol said.

“I learned to stick to my plan,� O’Brien said when asked to compare the two at-bats against Hernandez to start each appearance. “It was a miss-executed pitch (on Monday). I don’t need to panic and change everything up. I need to execute.�

In the ninth, O’Brien retired the first two Dodgers before facing pinch-hitter Max Muncy, who had two homers Tuesday. O’Brien walked him to bring up the No. 9 hitter.

O’Brien fell behind Alex Freeland, 3-1.

The right-hander then challenged him with a 99.1-mph sinker.

O’Brien’s sinker touched 100.1-mph in the game and averaged 98.6 mph. He played that off a slider that veers consistently at 90 mph and a curveball that bends in the low-80s to give him three pitches at three different octaves of speed. Freeland fouled off the 99.1-mph sinker and then chopped a 98.8-mph sinker for the game-ending groundout. Ohtani was left on deck.

“I like that he was on the attack,� Marmol said. “He’ll learn from the walk to Muncy and going 3-1 on the nine hole. That’s something. As good as he did to just stay on the attack there and make him beat you so that their leadoff guy doesn’t sniff the plate. Glad it ended right there.�

O’Brien blew a lead Monday and then snagged the win. Perhaps because of that and the last-inning rally drawing all the attention his first big-league win went relatively unnoticed. He wondered if maybe due to his age, 30, and he’d been around that his teammates “presumed� he had a win. He was able to get four game-used baseball from that night to give to his mother, father, and brother. He’ll keep one for his display.

If he only gets one baseball from the save, it will go beside the win ball.

His first save did not go unrecognized by teammates – who celebrated in the soggy, sticky, yucky spin cycle while stuffed in a laundry basket that’s become tradition. O’Brien said he got doused with beer and chocolate milk and also tasted some baby powder dumped on him. Leahy went for the ice-cold water because he said the shock is what really gets someone, not the mess.

“Every first is cool,� Leahy said. “And then the second you do it once, you’re like, ‘I need to do this again and again and again and again.’ Now he’s going to want his second and he’s going to want to show he can do it every single time. First is awesome, but you quickly change your goal to want more.�

O’Brien said his previous visit to Dodger Stadium was on his mind during this one.

He entered that game in the seventh inning, sandwiched between appearances by two pitchers who are now starters, Andre Pallante and Matthew Liberatore. He walked two of the first three batters he faced and allowed an RBI single to Muncy before striking out Hernandez. That strikeout was the last pitch he threw in the majors for five months. When he got the final groundout Monday of what became his win, he thought immediately about how soon he could throw his next pitch.

“After I got the win, I was thinking it would be pretty cool if I got a save here in this series, too,� O’Brien said. “It’s cool to come full circle, especially with how it feels different – a night and day difference.�