Saturday’s Game Report: Cubs 6, Cardinals 1
By Rob Rains
The fans in the “tarps off” section of Busch Stadium had somebody to yell at during Saturday night’s game but it was the target of their chants, the Cubs’ Pete Crow-Armstrong, who got the last laugh.
Crow-Armstrong had a four-hit night, one of the hits a home run – a blast that traveled 444 feet into the “tarps off” section above the Cardinals’ bullpen – as the Cubs beat the Cardinals in the second game of their weekend series.
The home run came in the eighth inning as the Cubs expanded a 3-1 lead. Earlier Crow-Armstrong had singled, doubled and was hit by a pitch before adding to his big night with another single in the ninth inning.
He capped off the night with a sliding catch to take an extra-base hit away from Jordan Walker for the final out of the game.
Much of the damage came against the Cardinals bullpen, which allowed five of the Cubs’ six runs.
Here is how Saturday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: The Cardinals had only three hits, and four baserunners, in seven innings against Cubs starter Ben Brown. Their only run came in the fourth when JJ Wetherholt led off with a single, went to second on a groundout and scored on a single by Alec Burleson, who was out trying to stretch the hit into a double … Their only other hit until the ninth was a single by Wetherholt in thr sixth, following a walk to Victor Scott II, but Herrera hit into an inning-ending double play … Wetherholt got his third hit, another single, in the ninth.
On the mound: Starter Kyle Leahy kept the Cubs scoreless through the first four innings, including getting out of a bases-loaded jam in the fourth, but could not finish the fifth inning. Crow-Armstrong led off the inning with a douhle, and he scored on a one-out single by Michael Busch that ended Leahy’s night … Ryan Fernandez got out of that inning before allowing two runs in the sixth, thanks in part to his own throwing error and a walk … Justin Bruihl hit Crow-Armstrong when he entered the game, then gave up a single and a sacrifice fly … Crow-Armstrong’s homer came off Gordon Graceffo and Matt Pushard allowed the final two runs for the Cubs in the ninth.
Key stat: Crow-Armstrong became the eighth Cub to have a four-hit game at Busch 3, the first to do since Addison Russell in 2019. He is the third Cub to hit a home run as one of his four hits, joining Ben Zobrist in 2018 and Bryan LaHair in 2012.
Worth noting: The crowd of 40,137 fans was the largest at Busch Stadium since opening day … Lars Nootbaar got in four plate appearances on Saturday night before rain suspended the Double A Springfield Cardinals game in the seventh inning. He was hitless in three at-bats and walked in his other plate appearance … Blaze Jordan had five hits for Memphis in six at-bats in the Redbirds’ 13-1 win at Omaha, raisng his average to .332.
Up next: The Cubs and Cardinals will finish this series with an appearance on Sunday night baseball, with first pitch scheduled for 6:20 p.m. Matthew Liberatore will get the start. The game will be televised by NBC.
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