Now be honest. You were thinking “Here we go again” after the Cubs didn’t have a hit through the first four innings — just like Thursday in Washington. And this was true even though the Cardinals didn’t have a hit through five, thanks to Clay Holmes mowing down St. Louis hitters.
Fortunately, all’s well that ended well. Holmes, Ryan Rolison, Ryan Zeferjahn and Jacob Webb combined to three-hit the visiting Cardinals and a Seiya Suzuki three-run homer was all the Cubs needed to start the homestand on a winning
note, 3-0 over the Cardinals in front of a festive full house of 40,374.
Those first five innings went by quickly, in little over an hour, because both Holmes and Cardinals starter Matthew Liberatore were retiring batter after batter. Holmes, in fact, started getting his signature ground ball outs after a few fly balls in the first and second. At one point he retired seven straight Cardinals via the ground ball.
The Cubs ended any thought of a Cardinals no-no with Nico Hoerner’s single with one out in the fifth. Nico stole second, but Carson Kelly and Ian Happ struck out to send the game to the sixth.
Holmes retired the first 16 Cardinals, but with one out in the sixth any thought of a no-hit or perfect game bid was over when José Fermin singled to right. Holmes retired the next two Cardinals in order to take a one-hitter into the seventh.
Before that, though, the Cubs scored the only runs of the game. Tyrone Taylor led off the bottom of the sixth with a walk and stole second. Taylor then took third on a single by Dansby Swanson, and Swanson also swiped a base, his 17th, putting runners on second and third. Pete Crow-Armstrong popped up, though, leaving those runners in scoring position with one out. The Cardinals removed Liberatore for George Soriano.
That’s when Suzuki launched a pitch into the bleachers [VIDEO].
More on Suzuki’s blast from BCB’s J0hnW53:
Seiya Suzuki’s tie-breaking homer was the Cubs’ 25th with two on base, most by any team. Nationals and Yankees have 22, and Mariners 20. The combined average of the 29 other teams is just 16. Suzuki’s was the Cubs’ 156th of the year, so their 25 with two on is 16 percent, about one of every six.
The Cubs did attempt to score more runs in that inning. Alex Bregman followed the homer with a walk and Michael Busch singled, but Hoerner hit into an inning-ending double play.
Holmes retired the first two hitters in the seventh and Craig Counsell left him in to try to finish the inning, but he walked Jordan Walker. Holmes then left to a loud ovation. Here’s more on Holmes’ outing [VIDEO].
And more on his pitch selection — that sinker was really working [VIDEO].
Still more on Holmes’ day from John:
Clay Holmes’ start was just the 22nd by a Cubs starter since 1901 of at least 6.2 innings pitched, with no runs, no more than one hit and no more than one walk.
Kyle Hendricks had been the last to do it, on June 10, 2023, at San Francisco: 8.0 IP, one hit, one walk.
The last at home had been Marcus Stroman, on May 29, 2023, vs. the Rays: a complete game with one hit and one walk.
Holmes’ was the 12th at home and second vs. the Cardinals. The first was 67 years ago, on April 21, 1959, by Glen Hobbie: a one-hit, one-walk complete game.
Frank Hiller did it at St. Louis on June 28, 1951: another one-hit, one-walk complete game.
Jake Arrieta and Ted Lilly did it twice, so Holmes is the 20th different Cub to achieve the feat.
Ryan Rolison relieved Holmes and did retire the only hitter he faced, Nathan Church, though it took 11 pitches and a bunch of foul balls.
Ryan Zeferjahn threw the eighth and struggled a bit with command (27 pitches, 17 strikes), but he did finally strike out JJ Wetherholt with two runners on base to end the inning [VIDEO].
The Cubs got a couple of runners on in the bottom of the eighth but could not score, and so it was left to Jacob Webb to nail things down. Webb allowed a leadoff single and then Swanson and Bregman combined on this amazing force play [VIDEO].
This is a perfect example of how good the Cubs defense is — and not only the great stop by Swanson, but the situational awareness by Bregman to know that Nico was not going to be in position to take the throw and so he had to cover second. Great stuff here.
Speaking of Nico, he made this nice grab for the final out [VIDEO].
Great pitching, solid defense and timely hitting — those are the hallmarks of the 2026 Cubs, and all combined Friday to make a satisfying win over the Cardinals.
Here’s Carson Kelly with some postgame comments about Holmes [VIDEO].
The Cubs move to within 3.5 games of the Brewers in the NL Central, pending the Brewers game against the Dodgers later this evening at Dodger Stadium (9:10 p.m. CT). The Cubs will go for the series win Saturday afternoon (weather permitting!) at Wrigley Field. Matthew Boyd will start for the Cubs and Michael McGreevy will go for the Cardinals. Game time is 1:20 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.
