Liberatore Gets the Ball as Cardinals Go for Sweep at Wrigley

The Cardinal Chronicle
Liberatore Gets the Ball as Cardinals Go for Sweep at Wrigley
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur

The Cardinals came to Chicago needing to make up ground.

Two games later, they have put themselves in position to leave Wrigley Field with a broom in their hand.

St. Louis closes its three-game holiday weekend series against the Chicago Cubs on Sunday afternoon, looking to complete a sweep after taking the first two games in very different but equally important ways.

First pitch is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. CT at Wrigley Field, with left-hander Matthew Liberatore getting the ball for the Cardinals against Cubs right-hander Javier Assad.

The Cardinals enter Sunday at 47-39, while the Cubs come in at 49-40. That puts St. Louis within striking distance of Chicago in the National League Central race, and it makes the finale more than just another rivalry game. This is the kind of head-to-head opportunity that can tighten a division race in a hurry.

The Cardinals opened the series Friday with a 17-1 pounding of the Cubs, the kind of game that empties a ballpark emotionally long before the final out. Nathan Church and Masyn Winn went deep, the lineup kept adding on, and St. Louis turned the opener into one of its loudest offensive performances of the season.

Then Saturday night looked completely different.

Instead of another avalanche of runs, the Cardinals won 3-0 behind pitching, defense and just enough offense. JJ Wetherholt opened the game with a first-pitch home run and reached base four times. Kyle Leahy gave St. Louis five scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out six. The bullpen did the rest, with George Soriano, Ryne Stanek, JoJo Romero and Riley O’Brien finishing off the shutout.

That is what made Saturday encouraging.

The Cardinals did not have to repeat Friday’s fireworks to win. They found another way. They pitched. They defended. They held the Cubs quiet in their own ballpark. After Chicago scored just one run across the first two games, the Cardinals have a chance Sunday to turn a good weekend into one of their best series of the season.

Now Liberatore gets his turn.

Liberatore enters at 4-5 with a 5.33 ERA and 79 strikeouts. His season has had its uneven stretches, but this is exactly the kind of start where he can help change the feel around his own role. The Cardinals do not need him to be perfect. They need him to be competitive, aggressive in the zone and steady enough to keep Chicago from grabbing early momentum.

The formula is simple.

Throw strikes. Get ahead. Keep the ball in the yard. Do not give the Cubs free baserunners in front of the middle of the order.

That last part matters. Wrigley Field can flip a game quickly, especially if the wind, the crowd and the Cubs’ lineup all start leaning in the same direction. The Cardinals have controlled the first two games because their pitchers have not allowed Chicago to stack pressure. Liberatore has to keep that going.

The Cubs counter with Assad, who enters at 6-1 with a 4.53 ERA and 31 strikeouts. His win-loss record looks strong, but the Cardinals should not let that change their approach. Assad can compete, mix speeds and keep hitters from getting too comfortable, but St. Louis has already shown in this series that patience and pressure can wear down Chicago pitching.

The Cardinals need to get traffic early.

That means Wetherholt setting the tone again. His first-pitch homer Saturday gave St. Louis immediate control, and his ability to reach base gives this lineup a different look. When Wetherholt is creating pressure at the top, the Cardinals are not waiting around for the middle of the order to rescue the game. They are forcing the opponent to work from the start.

Jordan Walker remains the biggest power threat in the lineup. Alec Burleson continues to be one of the steadier bats on the club. Iván Herrera’s on-base ability gives the Cardinals another difficult at-bat. Masyn Winn can impact the game with his glove, arm, legs and now occasional power. Nathan Church has already made a major impact in this series. Blaze Jordan and Jimmy Crooks give the bottom half of the order some real bite.

That depth has been one of the keys at Wrigley.

The Cardinals have not won this series because one player carried them. They have won because the lineup has produced from multiple places and the pitching staff has not let Chicago breathe.

That is the kind of baseball that travels.

It also matters because the standings are no longer background music. The Cardinals are still chasing Milwaukee and Chicago in the division picture, but this weekend has given them a direct path to make up ground. Beating the Cubs does more than add wins to the Cardinals’ column. It hands losses to the club directly in front of them.

That is old-school standings math, and it still works just fine.

The Cubs will not roll over Sunday. They have too much talent, too much pride and too much at stake to let the Cardinals sweep them at Wrigley without a fight. Pete Crow-Armstrong, Seiya Suzuki, Ian Happ, Alex Bregman, Carson Kelly and the rest of that lineup are capable of making a long afternoon for any pitcher who falls behind.

The Cardinals should expect Chicago’s best effort.

That is what makes the opportunity valuable.

Sweeping a division rival on the road is never easy. Sweeping the Cubs at Wrigley over a holiday weekend is the kind of thing that can change the tone of a season, especially for a Cardinals club that has spent much of the year trying to prove that its contender status is more than just a line in the standings.

The Cardinals are still flawed. The pitching is still the question. The bullpen can still make a comfortable game feel like a late-night prayer request. The offense can still disappear at the wrong time.

But this weekend has shown the other side.

When the rotation gives them clean innings, when the young bats apply pressure, when the defense does its job and the bullpen finishes, the Cardinals look like a club that belongs in the race.

Sunday gives them a chance to make that case louder.

A win would complete the sweep, pull St. Louis closer to Chicago and send the Cardinals out of Wrigley with one of their strongest road series of the year. A loss would still leave them with a series win, but it would also feel like a missed chance to take full advantage of the moment.

That is what July baseball does.

It makes good opportunities feel urgent.

The Cardinals have already won the series.

Now they have a chance to make it sting.

Liberatore gets the ball.

The Cubs are on the ropes.

Go get the broom.

Game Info
Matchup: St. Louis Cardinals at Chicago Cubs
When: Sunday, July 5, 2026
First pitch: 1:30 p.m. CT
Where: Wrigley Field, Chicago
Probable Pitchers: LHP Matthew Liberatore vs. RHP Javier Assad
Liberatore: 4-5, 5.33 ERA, 79 SO
Assad: 6-1, 4.53 ERA, 31 SO
Records: Cardinals 47-39; Cubs 49-40
Broadcast: Peacock / NBCSN Extra

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Photo Credit: Matthew Liberatore, St. Louis Cardinals | Denis Poroy-Imagn Images