Thursday’s Game Report: Cubs 4, Cardinals 2 (10 innings)
By Rob Rains
After pulling off a dramatic rally in the bottom of the 10th inning to win Wednesday night’s game over the Cubs, the Cardinals had a chance to do it again on Thursday.
It wasn’t meant to be, however, as the Cardinals were retired in order and lost to the Cubs for the third time in the four-game series at Busch Stadium.
Alex Bregman and Ian Happ delivered back-to-back doubles off Luis Gastelum in the 10th, breaking a 2-2 tie. The Cardinals sent the game to extra innings on a home run by JJ Wetherholt in the seventh inning.
The loss dropped the Cardinas below .500 again (54-55) and completed a 2-6 homestand. They are just 4-10 since the All-Star break with three games left in Toronto before Monday’s trade deadline.
With one game left in July, the Cardinals are 10-17 for the month.
Here is how Thursday’s game broke down:
At the plate: Bryan Torres followed a pair of walks to drive in the Cardinals first run with a single in the second inning … They trailed 2-1 when Wetherholt hit his 16th homer of the season with one out in the seventh. It was his first home run at home since May 19 … With the automatic runner on second base to begin the 10th, Alec Burleson and Jimmy Crooks flew out to center before Lars Nootbaar struck out to end the game … The RBI single by Torres in the second was their only hit in 12 at-bats with a runner in scoring position.
On the mound: Andre Pallante scattered seven hits over 6 1/3 innings. He left the game in a 1-1 tie and a runner on first following a walk before George Soriano allowed the inherited runner to score on a single by Michael Busch to give the Cubs the lead. Soriano then got out of a bases-loaded jam … Ryne Stanek worked the eighth and Riley O’Brien the ninth before Gastelum gave up two runs in the 10th for the second consecutive game.
Key stat: In their 14 games since the All-Star break, the Cardinals have hit a combined six home runs in 474 at-bats. Half of the homers have come from Wetherholt, with one each by Crooks, Ivan Herrera and Jose Fermin.
Worth noting: The first run for the Cubs scored on a throwing error by Nootbaar in the fourth after he forgot how many outs there were in the inning after catching a fly ball … It was a big series for Bregman, who went 10-of-18 in the four games with seven extra base hits (six doubles, one home run) with seven runs scored and three RBIs … Wetherholt raised his average against the Cubs to .410 in 10 games (16-of-39) … This was the first time the Cardinals and Cubs played consecutive extra-inning games at Busch Stadium since May 5 and 6, 2018, when the Cardinals won both games on a 10th inning homer from Kolten Wong and on a 14th-inning homer by Dexter Fowler.
Up next: Kyle Leahy will get the start on Friday night in the opener of the three-game series against the Blue Jays in Toronto that starts a six-game road trip. Quinn Mathews will be promoted to make his major-league debut on Saturday. The trip will conclude with three games against the Yankees in New York.
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