Friday’s Game Report: Cubs 3, Cardinals 0
By Rob Rains
With Seiya Suzuki coming up to bat with one out and two runners on base in a scoreless game in the sixth inning on Friday, Cardinals’ manager Oli Marmol had a decision to make.
Should he let starter Matthew Liberatore, who had allowed only two hits, face Suzuki for a third time or bring in righthander George Soriano?
Marmol brought in Soriano, which turned out to be the wrong choice.
Suzuki, who had been 2-of-18 in his career against Liberatore including a pair of groundouts on Friday, greeted Soriano with a three-run homer into the bleachers in left center that produced all of the runs in the game as the Cubs won the opener of the three-game series at Wrigley Field.
Liberatore was at 95 pitches, and had allowed a walk and single to the eighth and ninth place hitters for the Cubs before retiring Pete Crow-Armstrong on a foul popup to bring up Suzuki with runners on first and third.
This has been a tough stretch for Soriano, who has now allowed seven hits and four runs, plus the two inherited runners he allowed to score, in his last 4 1/3 innings, covering his last five appearances.
Here is how Friday’s game broke down:
At the plate: The Cardinals did not have a baserunner against Cubs starter Clay Holmes until Jose Fermin singled with one out in the sixth. They had only two more hits, an eighth-inning single by Bryan Torres and a single by Ivan Herrera in the ninth … Fermin followed the one-out single by Torres by drawing a walk, bringing the tying run to the plate, but Cesar Prieto flew out and JJ Wetherholt struck out … Their only other baserunner was Jordan Walker, on a two-out walk in the seventh … The Cardinals were shut out for the sixth time this season.
On the mound: Liberatore retired the first 13 batters he faced, getting two great defensive plays behind him from Masyn Winn and Wetherholt in the fourth inning … He gave up a one-out single to Nico Hoerner in the fifth before striking out the next two batters … In the sixth, Liberatore walked Tyrone Taylor and gave up a single to Dansby Swanson … Peter Strzelecki kept the Cubs from adding to their lead by pitching around a leadoff infield single in the seventh and a double by Suzuki and a walk in the eighth.
Key stat: The three stolen bases by the Cubs increased the number of successful steals against Herrera to 60 in a row, dating back to the last time he threw out a runner trying to steal, on Sept. 1, 2024. Opponents have stolen 38 bases against Herrera this season.
Worth noting: Marmol told reporters after the game that Joshua Baez will join the team in Saturday and be in the lineup for his major-league debut. He has hit 34 homers this season for Memphis … Neither the Cardinals or Cubs had a baserunner through the first four innings … This was only the fourth time in the last 50 years that the Cardinals were shut out on three or fewer hits in a game at Wrigley. The other three were a one-hit shutout in 1995 and two-hit shutout losses in 2013 and 2021 … This was the first game of an 11-game, three-city road trip for the Cardinals, which includes a split doubleheader on Monday in Cincinnati to make up an earlier rainout. It’s the longest road trip for the Cardinals in a full season since another 11-game trip in 2019.
Up next: Michael McGreevy will get the start on Saturday in the second game of the series.
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