The Cubs offense, seemingly lost for two days against the Cardinals in which they scored a total of just one run, suddenly appeared on a cloudy July afternoon at Wrigley Field.
Two first-inning runs appeared they might be enough until a bullpen meltdown in the sixth gave St. Louis the lead. But the Cubs came back and re-took the lead, in part with key hits and in part due to some sketchy Cardinals defense, and hung on to win 6-4 and salvage the final game of the series. They finished the homestand
with a 4-2 record and get to 50 wins on the season. Just five other MLB teams (Rays, Braves, Dodgers, Phillies and Brewers) have won 50 or more games so far this year.
After Javier Assad threw a 1-2-3 first inning, the Cubs got right to work in the bottom of the inning. Pete Crow-Armstrong inside-outed a ball toward third base that took a weird spin and went for a hit.
Alex Bregman followed with this RBI double [VIDEO].
After Seiya Suzuki struck out, Carson Kelly walked and Michael Busch was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
Nico Hoerner hit a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Bregman:
Assad struggled through the second inning, issuing a leadoff walk to Jordan Walker, but then picked him off. That was important, because after getting Lars Nootbaar to fly to left, Assad loaded the bases on two singles and a walk. This seems to be a common theme among Cubs starters lately — inability to put away the third out with two out and no one on.
But Assad got out of that inning with a popup to short right that was caught by Dansby Swanson.
That was the first of nine straight hitters Assad retired. He was lifted at 80 pitches with two out in the fifth. About that, from BCB’s JohnW53:
This was the ninth game of the season in which Craig Counsell lifted the starter after exactly 4.2 innings.
It was the third of the nine in which the starter had no allowed a run. The first two were Jameson Taillon, on March 31 vs. the Angels, and Matthew Boyd, on June 25 vs. the Mets at New York.
The six other starters gave up two to seven runs.
Counsell did it seven times all of last season, after having done it 13 times in 2024.
That lifting of Assad led to the Cardinals’ first three runs. Ryan Rolison finished the fifth without incident, then allowed hits to two of the first three St. Louis hitters in the sixth. So Counsell called on Tyler Ferguson, whose second pitch was hit out of the yard by Walker for a three-run homer and a Cardinals lead. Ferguson did get out of the inning with no further damage.
The Cubs wasted no time getting those runs back and more. Carson Kelly led off the sixth with a walk and Busch singled him to third. This single by Nico scored Kelly, tying the game [VIDEO].
Busch stopped at second on that hit and that’s when the defensive miscues began for the Carinals. Ian Happ popped into short left for the first out of the inning.
Dansby Swanson was the next hitter. He hit a ground ball to third and… well, watch [VIDEO].
Busch scored to give the Cubs the lead and Hoerner took third. Pedro Ramirez made it 5-3 with this sac fly:
Swanson, who had wound up on second, scored on that play as well when Walker’s throw went into the Cubs dugout. So the Cubs had a 6-3 lead heading to the seventh.
Drew Pomeranz, just re-signed, threw a 1-2-3 seventh, then allowed a leadoff single to JJ Wetherholt in the eighth. That brought on Jacob Webb. Wetherholt advanced to second on a ground out, to third on a single and scored on a sac fly, cutting the Cubs’ lead to 6-4.
Webb finished off the eighth with no further St. Louis runs scoring, and remained in the game to throw the ninth after the Cubs went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the eighth. He issued a leadoff walk to Masyn Winn in the ninth and, well, those are never good. But he recovered to get the next two outs on a foul popup and strikeout. Winn took second on defensive indifference, and that brought up former Cub Nelson Velázquez.
Dansby ended the game with this spectacular catch of a sinking line drive [VIDEO].
Incidentally, if you’re wondering why this recap is more text-heavy than usual, it’s because, well, basically the video clips here are all I had available, and some of the Cubs highlights only via the social media posts you see here.
Before I get to a couple more game facts from John, I did want to say something about Counsell’s pitcher management today. Yes, it’s easy to criticize and usually I don’t, but this time I think Counsell outsmarted himself. Assad was on a roll, having retired nine straight hitters. Yes, I get pitch counts but… in this case he couldn’t have faced one more hitter? Rolison got that guy, but then gave up hits to the two left-handed Cardinals hitters he was left in the game to face, and then Ferguson, who was sent in to face a right-handed hitter, served up a three-run homer.
Yes, I get the platoon advantage, etc. etc. etc. But sometimes I think managers do that too reflexively and don’t “feel” the game situation, for lack of a better term. Fortunately, in the end it didn’t matter in this game.
Here’s more on Assad’s pitch selection in this game [VIDEO].
Now, fun facts from John!
Four Cubs were hit by a pitch today, making this only their 12th game with at least that many since 1901.
The previous one was on June 22, 2022, at Pittsburgh, with four.
Their team record is five, set in 2020 at Cincinnati and tied the next year at St. Louis. That was the only previous game in which Cardinals pitchers hit at least four Cubs.
…..
With today’s win, the Cubs are 64-63 in games vs. their Central Division rivals in their three seasons under Craig Counsell.
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The Cubs overcame a deficit for the 38th time this season, in 35 different games. They are 24-11 in those games and have won nine in a row, beginning with a win over the Rockies on July 11.
Before rallying, the Cubs had blown a lead for the 38th time, in 29 different games. They are 14-15 in those games, including back-to-back wins and four of the last five.
One note from me: PCA singled twice and was hit by a pitch in five plate appearances. That raised his season OBP to .383 and his season OPS to .910.
At this writing the Brewers are leading the Diamondbacks 3-1 in the seventh. If that score holds up the Cubs will remain six games back in the NL Central and the Cardinals will be 7.5 behind Milwaukee. The Cardinals head home to open a five-game set vs. the Brewers Monday in St. Louis. That includes a doubleheader Tuesday, one of the games a make-up from a rainout May 5.
The Cubs will enjoy their off day Monday and then open a three-game series against the Orioles in Baltimore Tuesday evening. Matthew Boyd will start the series opener for the Cubs and Shane Baz will go for the Orioles. Game time Tuesday is 5:35 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.
