Cubs Take Series Finale in Extras, Beat Cardinals 4-2

THE CARDINAL CHRONICLE
Cubs Take Series Finale in Extras, Beat Cardinals 4-2
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur

One day after the St. Louis Cardinals pulled a 10th-inning escape act against the Chicago Cubs, the Cubs returned the favor.

This time, the Cardinals could not answer.

Chicago scored twice in the top of the 10th inning Thursday afternoon at Busch Stadium, then shut down St. Louis in the bottom half to beat the Cardinals, 4-2, and take three of four in the series.

It was a frustrating loss because the Cardinals had their chances.

Plenty of them.

They had 10 hits. They had runners on base. They had Andre Pallante giving them a chance deep into the game. They had JJ Wetherholt tie it in the seventh with one swing. They had their bullpen hold the line long enough to give the offense a shot.

But when the game got to extras, Chicago delivered.

St. Louis did not.

That was the difference.

The Cardinals struck first in the second inning. Lars Nootbaar and Masyn Winn drew one-out walks, giving St. Louis an early chance against Cubs starter Javier Assad. Bryan Torres came through with a single to left, scoring Nootbaar and putting the Cardinals ahead, 1-0.

It was the kind of inning St. Louis needed to build on.

They did not.

Blaze Jordan and Nathan Church left runners stranded, and what looked like the beginning of a useful offensive afternoon became another missed chance. That theme followed the Cardinals all day.

They had hits.

They had traffic.

They did not have enough finish.

The Cubs tied the game in the fourth, and the run came in a way the Cardinals simply cannot afford. Alex Bregman doubled with one out, and Ian Happ lifted a fly ball to right field. Nootbaar made the catch, but the play did not end there. Bregman alertly kept running, and after the ball came back in, the Cardinals failed to stop the run from scoring.

That tied the game, 1-1.

It was not a blast.

It was not a rally.

It was a mistake, and against the Cubs, those tend to hurt a little more.

Pallante deserved better than that. He was not dominant, but he was competitive and kept St. Louis in the game. He worked 6 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on seven hits with two walks and three strikeouts. He threw 90 pitches, 56 for strikes, and leaned on contact, ground balls and enough execution to give the Cardinals a chance to win.

That is all they needed from him.

That is all a team should need in a home game against a division rival.

Pallante kept the Cubs quiet through the early innings and continued to work out of traffic. He was helped by the defense at times, including another strong play from Masyn Winn, who continues to make the difficult look routine. The Cardinals turned two double plays behind Pallante, and for most of the afternoon, St. Louis had the kind of pitching and defense that should have been enough.

But the margin was thin from the start.

That is what happens when the offense leaves runs on the table.

Chicago finally broke through again in the seventh. Dansby Swanson drew a one-out walk, ending Pallante’s afternoon. George Soriano entered and immediately had to deal with a running game. Swanson stole second, moved into scoring position, and after Seiya Suzuki walked, Michael Busch singled to bring Swanson home.

The Cubs had a 2-1 lead.

It did not last long.

Wetherholt answered in the bottom of the seventh with a solo home run, turning on a breaking ball and sending it out to tie the game, 2-2. It was his 16th homer of the season and another reminder that even during an uneven stretch for the offense, the rookie can still change a game in one swing.

That swing mattered.

It gave the Cardinals life.

It also should have been the opening for more.

Instead, the game stayed tied.

Ryan Stanek worked a scoreless eighth. Riley O’Brien handled the ninth. The Cardinals had another chance in the bottom of the ninth, but they could not finish it. José Fermín reached with one out, Wetherholt followed by grounding into a fielder’s choice, and Jordan Walker got a pitch he could drive but flew out deep to left.

A few more feet, maybe the story changes.

It did not.

For the second straight day, the Cubs and Cardinals went to the 10th inning. On Wednesday night, the Cubs had taken a two-run lead in the top half before Iván Herrera helped bring St. Louis back for a walk-off win.

Thursday looked uncomfortably similar.

Only this time, the ending belonged to Chicago.

Luis Gastelum took the mound in the top of the 10th with Suzuki as the automatic runner at second. Busch grounded out to first, moving Suzuki to third. Bregman then lined a double down the right-field line, scoring Suzuki and putting the Cubs ahead, 3-2.

Then came Happ.

The Cardinals have seen enough of Happ over the years to know how dangerous he can be in these moments. He doubled, scoring Bregman and pushing the lead to 4-2.

That was the inning.

That was the game.

Gastelum limited the damage to two runs, only one earned because of the automatic runner, but in extra innings, the accounting matters less than the scoreboard. The Cubs got the big hits. The Cardinals needed to respond.

They could not.

Walker began the bottom of the 10th as the automatic runner at second. Alec Burleson lined out to center. Jimmy Crooks came off the bench and flied out. Nootbaar worked the count but struck out to end the game.

Chicago had held the line.

St. Louis had let another winnable game slip away.

The Cardinals finished with 10 hits, but only two runs. Wetherholt went 2-for-5 with the homer and the stolen base. Torres had two hits and drove in the first run. Burleson, Herrera, Winn, Jordan, Fermín and Blaze Jordan each had a hit.

The production was scattered.

That was the problem.

St. Louis went through too many innings with runners aboard and not enough damage behind it. The Cardinals left 10 men on base. Nathan Church left four runners stranded in his two at-bats. Herrera left four. Jordan left four. Nootbaar left three. Walker struck out three times.

That adds up.

It added up Thursday to a series loss.

For Chicago, the key swings came from Bregman and Happ in the 10th, but the Cubs had steady pressure throughout the afternoon. Pete Crow-Armstrong had two hits. Nico Hoerner had three. Busch had two hits and drove in a run. Bregman had two doubles and scored twice. Happ’s double gave Chicago the insurance run it needed.

The Cubs did not hit a home run.

They did not need one.

They ran the bases well, took advantage of a Cardinals mistake, and came through in extras.

That is how a road team steals a series finale.

For the Cardinals, this one will sting because it came less than 24 hours after one of the better wins of the season. Wednesday night had the feel of a possible spark. Dustin May gave them five shutout innings, the bullpen kept them alive, and Herrera delivered in the 10th. It was the kind of win that could have changed the tone of the series.

Instead, the Cardinals came back Thursday and could not carry it forward.

That is the frustrating part.

They did not play poorly enough to get buried.

They played just well enough to stay in the game and just poorly enough to lose it.

That has been too familiar.

The Cardinals are now 54-54, back at .500, with the trade deadline sitting right on top of them. That record matters. This series matters. These games against the Cubs matter. St. Louis cannot keep talking about staying in the fight while giving away chances at home against the teams it needs to catch.

Chicago came into Busch Stadium and took three of four.

That is the bottom line.

The Cardinals avoided the sweep Wednesday night, but they could not win the finale. They had a chance to split the series after Herrera’s walk-off. They had a chance to build some momentum before heading to Toronto. They had a chance to turn Wetherholt’s tying homer into something more.

Instead, the Cubs got the final word.

Now the Cardinals head north for a weekend series against the Blue Jays. Kyle Leahy is scheduled to start Friday night in Toronto, and the Cardinals will need to regroup quickly. There is no time to sit around and wonder what this series could have been.

But there is no hiding from what it was.

The Cubs won three of four.

The Cardinals are back to .500.

And Thursday afternoon, one day after stealing a game in the 10th, St. Louis watched Chicago return the favor.

The Cardinal Chronicle, in association with Gateway Sports & MiLB Today
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Photo Credit: Alex Bregman, Chicago Cubs | MLB