Tuesday’s Game Report: Cubs 10, Cardinals 2
By Rob Rains
For the second night in a row, there was a good offense on display Tuesday night at Busch Stadium.
For the second night in a row, it was the Cubs’ offense, not the Cardinals.
The Cubs jumped on Michael McGreevy for two runs in the first inning and five runs in the second before going on to the blowout win over the Cardinals.
Their 10 runs came on 17 hits, and in the first two games of this four-game series the Cubs have scored 17 runs on 31 hits.
The loss dropped the Cardinals below .500 for the first time this season. They have lost nine of their last 11 games and are 6-15 since July 5.
The Cardinals have scored a combined five runs on 14 hits in the first two games of the series.
Here is how Tuesday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: The Cardinals had just four hits through the first seven innings, with their only run scoring on a sacrifice fly from Nathan Church in the fourth inning … They added another run in the ninth on a double from Masyn Winn. Both runs scored after their first batter of the inning reached on a walk … Winn was the only Cardinal with a multi-hir game, finishing with two of their seven hits.
On the mound: McGreevy allowed more runs (seven) than he got outs (five) as he only faced 15 batters, allowing 10 to reach base, plus giving up a sacrifice fly … The seven runs equaled the most McGreevy has allowed in a game in his career … The bullpen combined to give up the final three runs as the Cardinals only recorded one 1-2-3 inning in the game, that coming from Gordon Graceffo … New reliever Peter Strzelecki made his Cardinals’ debut, allowing one run over two innings.
Key stat: Jordan Walker was 0-of-3 and has not hit a home run in 42 at-bats since winning the Home Run Derby at the All-Star game. In the 12 games since the break, the Cardinals have hit a combined five home runs in 401 at-bats.
Worth noting: Strzelecki, signed to a minor-league contract last week, replaced Hunter Dobbins on the roster. Dobbins was optioned to Memphis after throwing 85 pitches in relief of Matthew Liberatore on Monday night. If the Cardinals trade a pitcher, Dobbins would be allowed to return earlier than the 15 days that apply to a pitcher being optioned to the minors … The last time the Cubs had 17 hits in a game in St. Louis was when they collected 20 in a game in 2014 … The last time they had 14 or more hits in consecutive games in St. Louis was in 1980.
Up next: Dustin May will get the start on Wednesday night in what will be his final start before Monday’s trading deadline.
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