photo: Brad Miller via Zoom (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)
The St. Louis Cardinals (5-5) opened their five-games-in-three-days set with the Chicago Cubs by splitting their Monday twin bill. The Cards claimed the opener, 3-1, but stumbled in the finale at Wrigley Field, 5-4. Third baseman/designated hitter Brad Miller drove in five of the Cards’ seven runs in the odd road-home split.
St. Louis 3 at Chicago 1 (Game 1 – 7 innings)
Brad Miller’s two-run double in the final inning provided the difference in Game 1, unraveling a 1-1 knot. The third baseman’s bases-loaded liner to left drove in Tyler O’Neill (walk) and Matt Carpenter (single). It was Miller’s only hit in three at bats and one of only four St. Louis hits overall.
The pair of seventh-inning tallies made a loser of Cubs’ starter Kyle Hendricks (L, 3-2), who has traditionally dominated the Cardinals. Hendricks had handcuffed the Cardinals on just one hit through the initial six frames. That sole knock belonged to Dexter Fowler, who took him deep to put the Cardinals up 1-0 after three.
The lead was short-lived when Chicago’s Ian Happ answered with a solo knock of his own off St. Louis starter Kwang-Hyun Kim to kick off the fourth. Kim, making his long-awaited first start on American soil, went 3 2/3 innings, giving up that lone run on three hits and three walks.
A trio of relievers retired every batter they faced, beginning with John Gant who recorded four outs, including three strikeouts. Giovanny Gallegos (W, 1-0) tossed a 1-2-3 sixth, fanning two, before Andrew Miller faced the minimum in the seventh for his second save.
St. Louis 4 vs. Chicago 5 (Game 2 – 7 innings)
In a makeup game from August 7 rescheduled as the second of two Monday contests, the “home” St. Louis bullpen faltered late, transforming a 4-1 advantage into a 5-4 defeat.
Reliever Tyler Webb (L, 0-1) (BS, 1) was ineffective in the sixth, surrendering three runs plus another inherited tally on two hits and two walks against just two outs. One of the two hits was a three-run bomb by pinch-hitter David Bote that capped the scoring.
The inherited tally was charged to Genesis Cabrera. The lefty faced the minimum in the fifth but plunked the sixth’s lead-off batter before recording his final out.
Alex Reyes took the mound first in the bullpen start and had difficulty locating the plate. As a result of his 24 pitches, of which just 10 were strikes, the right-hander pitched just one inning. The plan had been for two. Reyes was tagged for a run on three walks and a run-scoring passed ball. It could have been worse had he not tagged out a second Cubs runner trying to score following his miscue.
Two more Cardinals relievers made both their organizational and Major League debuts – southpaw Ricardo Sanchez and right-hander Nabil Crismatt. Sanchez handled the second and third frames, fanning three and issuing two free passes. Crismatt worked around a hit and walk for a clean seventh. In his second appearance in two days, lefty Rob Kaminsky hurled a one-two-three fourth, striking out one.
Overall, St. Louis pitching allowed just three hits, same as in Game 1. The difference in Game 2 was the nine free passes issued. They simply could not overcome the blast surrendered by Webb, with the other two runners on base due to a hit-by-pitch and a walk.
All of St. Louis’ runs were generated by the long ball. In his first career action at Wrigley, Miller followed up his Game 1 heroics with the second multi-homer game of his career in the nightcap. The first was a two-run shot with Matt Carpenter (walk) aboard, giving his team a 2-1 lead after two. Back-to-back solo jacks by Miller and Max Schrock padded the lead in the fourth. It was Schrock’s first MLB home run, coming from an infielder who was known for hitting for average in the minors, not power.
The 5-5 Cardinals have three games remaining in their series and Chicago-only road trip.
Monday’s game: at Chicago (14-7), 7:15 pm CDT, Daniel Ponce de Leon (0-1, 6.75) vs. Yu Darvish (3-1, 1.88) FOX Sports Midwest // FOX Sports 1 // KMOX
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