Cubs Take Opener at Busch
THE CARDINAL CHRONICLE
Cubs Take Opener at Busch
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur
The St. Louis Cardinals opened a four-game series against the Chicago Cubs on Monday night with a chance to make a statement.
Instead, the Cubs made one first.
Chicago beat the Cardinals, 7-3, at Busch Stadium, jumping ahead early, answering every St. Louis push, and pulling away late behind big nights from Alex Bregman and Nico Hoerner.
For the Cardinals, this was another frustrating game in a stretch where frustration has become too familiar. They were not blown out from the first pitch. They were not lifeless. They had a few moments where it looked like the game might turn.
But the Cubs had more traffic, more answers, and more damage.
That was the difference.
Matthew Liberatore got the start for St. Louis, and Chicago put pressure on him right away. Pete Crow-Armstrong walked to open the game, though Iván Herrera erased him on a caught stealing. That helped, but the inning still got away enough to hurt. Seiya Suzuki doubled to left, and Alex Bregman followed with an RBI double of his own to give Chicago a 1-0 lead.
The Cubs added another run in the second. Nico Hoerner singled, Dansby Swanson followed with a base hit, and Miguel Amaya drove in Hoerner with a single to right. Chicago led 2-0, and the Cardinals were already chasing.
José Fermín gave St. Louis a quick answer in the bottom of the second, launching a solo home run to left field. It was his fifth homer of the season and cut the deficit to 2-1.
That swing gave the Cardinals some life.
But Chicago took it right back.
Bregman led off the third with a solo home run to right field, stretching the Cubs’ lead to 3-1. Liberatore was able to get out of the inning after Carson Kelly singled, helped by a double play, but the damage had already been done.
Liberatore’s night ended in the fourth after 3.2 innings. He allowed three runs on eight hits, walked two and struck out five. The strikeouts were there, but so was the contact. Chicago kept putting the ball in play, kept finding grass, and kept forcing the Cardinals to work from behind.
Hunter Dobbins took over in the fourth and gave the Cardinals length, which mattered with a four-game series just beginning. But the Cubs kept applying pressure against him, too.
The biggest inning came in the fifth.
Bregman singled to right, Carson Kelly singled to center, and after Michael Busch moved both runners over, Hoerner came through with a two-run single to center. The ball deflected off Masyn Winn, and both Bregman and Kelly scored to make it 5-1.
That was a tough turn for St. Louis.
The Cardinals had not been buried yet, but at 5-1, the game started to feel like the Cubs had full control.
St. Louis finally made another push in the sixth. Jordan Walker walked, Alec Burleson moved him over, and Masyn Winn singled to center to bring Walker home. A wild pitch moved Winn to third, and Bryan Torres, pinch-hitting for Nelson Velázquez, delivered a ground-rule double down the right-field line to score Winn.
Just like that, the Cardinals were within 5-3.
Busch Stadium had a little life again.
But that was as close as St. Louis would get.
The Cardinals had a chance to keep the pressure on in the seventh when Blaze Jordan walked, but Lars Nootbaar struck out, JJ Wetherholt struck out, and Jordan Walker flew out to left. In the eighth, Iván Herrera singled but was thrown out trying to stretch it into extra bases, and the inning disappeared quickly.
The Cubs put the game away in the ninth.
Bregman doubled to right to start the inning, and two batters later Hoerner hit a two-run homer to left field. His fifth home run of the season gave Chicago a 7-3 lead and ended any realistic thought of a Cardinals comeback.
Hoerner finished 4-for-5 with four RBIs. Bregman went 4-for-5 with two doubles, a homer, three runs scored and two RBIs. Together, they were the engine of Chicago’s offense.
The Cubs finished with 14 hits.
The Cardinals had six.
That tells a large part of the story.
For St. Louis, Fermín homered, Winn had two hits and drove in a run, Torres came off the bench with an RBI double, and Wetherholt stole his 11th base of the season after a first-inning single. But there was not enough sustained offense. The Cardinals had a few moments, not enough innings.
David Peterson gave Chicago 5.2 innings, allowing two runs on three hits while walking two and striking out three. It was not overpowering, but it was enough. The Cubs’ bullpen handled the rest, limiting the Cardinals to one run over the final 3.1 innings.
The loss drops the Cardinals back into a place they did not want to be entering this series.
This four-game set against Chicago is not just another rivalry series. The Cubs are ahead of St. Louis in the standings. The trade deadline is closing in. The Cardinals are trying to prove they still belong in the postseason conversation.
Monday night did not help that argument.
The Cardinals needed a strong start to the series. Instead, they fell behind early, chased all night, and watched the Cubs take the opener with a cleaner, more complete effort.
There are three games left in the series, which means there is still time for St. Louis to answer.
But the Cardinals cannot keep waiting until tomorrow.
At some point, the games on the schedule have to become wins in the standings.
Monday night was another missed chance.
Chicago finished with 14 hits while St. Louis managed six. That gap showed up all night, especially with the Cubs continuing to add on late.
Cubs 7, Cardinals 3.
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Photo Credit: Alex Bregman, Chicago Cubs | MLB