What Tommy Pham was looking for from Cincinnati’s rookie center fielder was the lack of something the Cardinals’ front office has tried to ignite within their clubhouse.
As he tagged up at first on a routine fly ball to center, Pham took a few strides and watched Patrick Kivelhan for any absence of urgency, any body language that showed, as Pham said, “a nonchalance.” When he saw it, Pham bolted for second and took it. The Cardinals’ fill-in leadoff hitter didn’t stop there. Pham stole third, and then raced home on a passed ball to invent a run for the Cardinals without a hit.