Sunday’s Game Report: Cubs 6, Cardinals 2
By Rob Rains
When the Cardinals left Wrigley Field on Sunday night, they had to feel lucky that they had not been swept out of town in the four-game series against the Cubs.
Miles Mikolas gave up four runs and failed to get an out in the fifth inning as the Cubs won for the third time in the series, and they were left lamenting the loss – a game they gave to the Cardinals on Saturday because of a fly ball which should have been caught but wasn’t.
The Cardinals have gone 7-9 since the All-Star break, a record that is not helping them close the gap on the division-leading Brewers or move back into one of the three wild-card playoff spots.
The series against the Cubs also was one of only two on the Cardinals schedule before Sept. 9 against a team with a losing record. Of their next 31 games beginning Monday, only three against the Reds will be against a team that does not currently have a winning record.
The Cardinals are now 57-55 for the season.
Here is how Sunday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: A two-run home run from Masyn Winn gave the Cardinals the lead in the third inning but the Cardinals had only one more hit the rest of the game, a one-out single by Willson Contreras in the eighth inning … An error and walk gave them two baserunners in the seventh with one out, but Lars Nootbaar struck out and Pedro Pages flew out to end the inning. That was two of their four hitless at-bats with a runner in scoring position, leaving them 3-of-25 in that area for the series.
On the mound: The Cubs scored two runs off Mikolas in the fourth inning on a single, double, groundout and a balk, and then in the fifth he allowed three consecutive singles and a walk that produced another run and knocked him out of the game. John King inherited the bases-loaded jam and gave up a sacrifice fly but then got a double play … Since 2022, Mikolas has a 5.23 ERA in six games at Wrigley Field … The Cubs final two runs came on home runs, one off King and one off Ryan Fernandez.
Key stat: Winn has hit four of his nine home runs in the last 10 games since July 26. Paul Goldschmidt has hit three during that stretch and Contreras two. Nobody else has hit more than one.
Worth noting: With Michael Siani expected to miss at least three to four weeks with a strained oblique, the Cardinals promoted Victor Scott II from Memphis and said he likely will share center field duties with Nootbaar, who started there on Sunday night. Scott was hitting .219 for the season at Memphis, but has been hot of late. In his last seven games he was 10-of-27 with three homers and 10 RBIs … It’s possible that reliever Riley O’Brien, who has been on the injured list since the first weekend of the season, could be activated in the next few days. He made back-to-back appearances for Memphis this weekend, working a scoreless inning with two strikeouts on Sunday … Also on Sunday at Durham, Jordan Walker hit a home run estimated at 446 feet, the longest of his career.
Looking ahead: The Cardinals will play a makeup game against the Mets at 4:15 on Monday. Andre Pallante is the scheduled starter. They will then welcome Dylan Carlson and the Rays to Busch Stadium on Tuesday night for the opener of a three-game series.
Follow Rob Rains on Twitter @RobRains
