Sunday’s Game Report: Cubs 2, Cardinals 0
By Rob Rains
The Cardinals season came to an end on Sunday the same way a majority of their games ended this year.
The Cubs hit another home run, this one from Seyia Suzuki, and they shut out the Cardinals at Wrigley Field. The Cardinals were swept by the Cubs, lost their last four games of the year and finished the season with a 78-84 record.
It’s the second sub-500 performance in the last three seasons for the Cardinals, who will spend October at home for the third consecutive year.
The only bright spot for the Cardinals on the final day of the year was the start from Kyle Leahy, who worked three scoreless innings in his first major-league start. Leahy expects to go to spring training next year as a candidate for the starting rotation.
Here is how Sunday’s game broke down:
At the plate: The Cardinals were shut out for the 14th time this season, collecting six hits. Thomas Saggese had a pair of singles and Victor Scott II had a single and double and stole his 34th base … They were hitless in five at-bats with a runner in scoring position and struck out 10 times. They had 10 or more strikeouts in each of the three games in the series. Jimmy Crooks had a triple but also struck out in his other three at-bats.
On the mound: Leahy, who had made 97 career relief appearances for the Cardinals, made his first start since he started four times for Memphis in 2023. He allowed a single to Pete Crow-Armstrong in the third, but he was erased in a double play … Suzuki’s homer came off John King leading off the fifth and they added the second run against Ryan Fernandez in the seventh.
Key stat: Suzuki’s homer was his sixth against the Cardinals and the 29th for the Cubs in 13 games this season. The Cubs hit 20 of those homers in six games at Wrigley, where the Cardinals finished 1-5 this season.
Worth noting: Willson Contreras was the only Cardinals player to hit 20 home runs and his 80 RBIs also led the team. It’s the fewest home runs for the team leader in a full 162-game season since Ray Lankford led the team with 20 homers in 1992.
Up next: The Cardinals have yet to announce their spring training schedule for next year but opening day of the regular season will be March 26 at home against Tampa Bay.
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