MLB: Cardinals' 'Rally Cat' inspires another grand slam

The St Louis Cardinals topped the Kansas City Royals 8-6 with some feline inspiration in the MLB.

Teams will do all they can to find a way to spark a rally. The 2000 Los Angeles Angels had the Rally Monkey. In 2011, the Cardinals had the Rally Squirrel. 

It looks like the Cardinals have another spirit animal. This time it is a kitten.

This furry feline ran onto the field on Wednesday during the Cardinals' game against the Royals. On the pitch following the cat's jog, Yadier Molina hit a grand slam to give St Louis an 8-5 lead.

If that had been the only major comeback, the Rally Cat might not be a thing. It is a thing now, though. It is a huge thing. And it is because Dexter Fowler followed up Wednesday's dramatic grand slam with one of his own on Thursday.

That home run gave the Cardinals a 7-3 lead and led them to victory again over their in-state rival.

It was the first time in Cardinals history they have hit go-ahead grand slams in back-to-back games.

The Rally Cat is a thing and it has been part of a season high six-game winning streak for the Cardinals. They are now just one game behind the Chicago Cubs for the National League (NL) Central lead.

THURSDAY'S RESULTS

Cincinnati Reds 10-3 San Diego Padres

Philadelphia Phillies 0-10 New York Mets

Toronto Blue Jays 4-0 New York Yankees

St Louis Cardinals 8-6 Kansas City Royals

Chicago White Sox 3-2 Houston Astros

Oakland Athletics 2-7 Baltimore Orioles

Detroit Tigers 5-7 Pittsburgh Pirates

Washington Nationals 3-2 Miami Marlins

Tampa Bay Rays 4-1 Cleveland Indians

Milwaukee Brewers 2-7 Minnesota Twins

Arizona Diamondbacks 6-8 Los Angeles Dodgers

Seattle Mariners 3-6 Los Angeles Angels

ESTRADA INSPIRES BLUE JAYS

Who does Sonny Gray have to bribe to get some run support? Or at least who does he have to bribe to get a bad outing from his opponent? Marco Estrada tossed seven scoreless innings for the Blue Jays in a win over the Yankees. He gave up five hits, just three walks and struck out six. That gives him three straight quality starts of at least seven innings pitched.

VERHAGEN STRUGGLES

It is hard to rag on a guy for just the third start of his career but when one fails to get out of the fourth inning and gives up six earned runs on nine hits they need to be held accountable. Apologies to Drew VerHagen, but this was not the best outing of his young career and he needs to be better than that. 

STEVENSON BAILS OUT DOOLITTLE

Andrew Stevenson was known for his defensive wizardry at LSU, and the rookie made sure to show just how good his defence is by bailing out Sean Doolittle in the top of the ninth inning and a 3-2 lead on the line.

PIRATES AT BLUE JAYS

Jameson Taillon against Marcus Stroman. It is the best pitching match-up of the day and it features talented pitchers versus former MVPs. It is Stroman versus Andrew McCutchen and Taillon versus Josh Donaldson. It is power versus power and power versus power. Now that you are appropriately confused, go watch the game on Friday.