Monday’s Game Report: Cubs 7, Cardinals 3
By Rob Rains
It was another tough start for Matthew Liberatore and the Cardinals on Monday night.
In a game which began 1 hour, 45 minutes late because of a rain delay, Liberatore’s night still ended early as he failed to get through the fourth inning. The Cubs jumped on him for three runs en route to winning the opener of their four-game seriss at Busch Stadium.
The loss dropped the Cardinals back to the .500 mark at 53-53 for the season and left them with a 3-8 record since the All-Star break.
For Liberatore, it was the latest in a string of ineffective starts. The Cardinals have won only two of his last nine starts dating back to June 6 and over that stretch he has allowed 30 earned runs in 40 2/3 innings, a 6.64 ERA.
He allowed a run in each of the first three innings and gave up almost as many baserunners (10) as he recorded outs (11).
Here is how Monday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: Jose Fermin homered in the second inning for the first Cardinals’ run and they added two runs in the sixth on an RBI single by Masyn Winn and a pinch-hit RBI ground-rule double by Bryan Torres that cut the Cubs lead to 5-3 … The Cardinals had just seven hits in the game, two by Winn.
On the mound: Liberatore was relieved by Hunter Dobbins in a piggyback start, and he pitched the last 5 1/3 innings, throwing 85 pitches … Dobbins gave up two runs on three singles in the fifth and two more runs in the ninth on a two-run homer by Nico Hoerner.
Key stat: Both Alex Bregman, who homered in the third off Liberatore, and Hoerner each had four hits in the game. They became the first Cubs teammates to each have four hits in the same game in St. Louis since Bill Buckner and Ron Cey did it on June 18, 1983.
Worth noting: The last time the Cardinals had a .500 record this season was after the games on April 13, when they were 8-8 after the first 16 games of the season.
Up next: The Cardinals have not named a starter for the second game of the series on Tuesday night but it is expected to be Michael McGreevy.
Follow Rob Rains on X @RobRains
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To hear Oli Marmol and Matthew Liberatore’s postgame interviews: https://youtu.be/jS8EaLn4HRs?si=0_Msj8gGi9tO1A5S
