Cardinals Turn to Liberatore in Sunday Night Rivalry Finale Against Cubs
The Cardinal Chronicle
Cardinals Turn to Liberatore in Sunday Night Rivalry Finale Against Cubs
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur
ST. LOUIS — The Cardinals have one more chance to salvage the weekend, and it comes under the Sunday night lights at Busch Stadium.
After opening the series with a 6-5 comeback win Friday night, St. Louis gave one back Saturday in a 6-1 loss to the Cubs, a game that got away through missed opportunities, defensive mistakes and a breakout night from Pete Crow-Armstrong. The Cubs center fielder went 4-for-5 with a double, home run, two RBIs and two runs scored, while Ben Brown held the Cardinals to one run over seven innings.
Now the Cardinals hand the ball to left-hander Matthew Liberatore for Sunday’s series finale. First pitch is scheduled for 6:20 p.m. at Busch Stadium, with the game carried nationally on NBC and Peacock, along with the local radio broadcast on KMOX and WIJR.
For the Cardinals, this is not just another game on the calendar. It is Cubs-Cardinals, Sunday night, national television, and a chance to leave the weekend even instead of letting Saturday’s ugly loss linger.
Liberatore enters at 2-3 with a 4.76 ERA and 53 strikeouts. The left-hander has shown the kind of stuff that can play, but the challenge remains the same: get through the early innings cleanly, avoid the crooked number, and make the Cubs earn what they get. St. Louis needs length from him after another game in which the bullpen had to carry too much of the load.
The Cubs counter with Jordan Wicks, another left-hander, who enters at 0-1 with a 16.62 ERA. Those numbers do not tell the whole story, but they do tell the Cardinals something important: this is a matchup where the offense cannot afford to wait around.
St. Louis has been at its best this season when it scores four or more runs. When the Cardinals get early offense and put pressure on the other dugout, they look like a different club. When they are forced to survive on one or two runs, the margin disappears quickly.
That is the ballgame in plain English.
Score early. Score more than once. Do not ask the pitching staff to win 2-1 every night.
Sunday night also gives the Cardinals another chance to show who they are under the lights. St. Louis has played some of its better baseball in night games this season, and this one arrives with a little extra stage lighting. NBC begins its summer Sunday night baseball schedule with Cubs-Cardinals, adding some old-school flavor to one of the National League’s classic rivalries.
The Cardinals also continue to monitor Lars Nootbaar’s rehab assignment. Saturday’s game notes reported Nootbaar played his first full nine-inning game in left field for Double-A Springfield, going 0-for-2 with two walks. Through eight rehab games across Springfield, Memphis and Palm Beach, he was batting .286 with two home runs, four RBIs, four walks and a 1.019 OPS.
But Sunday night is about the group already in St. Louis.
The Cardinals need a cleaner game. They need better at-bats. They need to quit handing away bases and innings. Saturday night had too much of the kind of baseball that drives a fan to the medicine cabinet — and with Tums now sponsoring the bullpen, that almost feels a little too on the nose.
The good news is simple: they still have a chance to leave this rivalry weekend with some footing before Texas comes to town.
That starts with Liberatore.
It starts with early offense.
And it starts with playing a sharper brand of baseball than the one that showed up Saturday night.
Game Information
Chicago Cubs at St. Louis Cardinals
Sunday, May 31, 2026
First Pitch: 6:20 p.m. CT
Location: Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri
TV: NBC / Peacock
Radio: KMOX / WIJR
Probable Pitchers
Chicago Cubs: LHP Jordan Wicks, 0-1, 16.62 ERA
St. Louis Cardinals: LHP Matthew Liberatore, 2-3, 4.76 ERA
The Cardinal Chronicle, in association with Gateway Sports
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