For three straight days, the St. Louis Cardinals won a game by one run in extra innings. as they maintained their position on top of the National League. Monday’s game began a series against their biggest rival…the Chicago Cubs, whose rivalry with the Cardinals needs no introduction.
And this could arguably be one of the most intense Cardinals/Cubs games in recent memory
Being down 5-0 heading into the bottom of the first, St. Louis stormed back and ended up victorious.
Carlos Martinez, who has had a strong start to the season, as has the rest of the Cardinals rotation, got the start on Monday night for St. Louis. As for Chicago, they sent Travis Wood (2-1, 3.04) to the mound.
The game started with a walk to Dexter Fowler, and to Chris Coghlan, and to Kris Bryant with one out to load the bases. Miguel Montero singled to make it 1-0. Starlin Castro followed with a single of his own to make it 2-0 Chicago. After five consecutive hits, in what seemed was in a blink of an eye, it was 5-0 Cubs, and Carlos Villanueva was already warming up in the Cardinals bullpen.
St. Louis started the bottom of the first, Jon Jay would be hit by a pitch, Matt Holliday hit a ground rule double, putting Jay at third base. Then Jhonny Peralta walked loading the bases. With one out and the bases loaded, veteran Mark Reynolds stepped up to bat, and launched a grand slam over the Cubs bullpen, and the Cardinals suddenly cut a five run deficit down to one.
But Chicago struck back the next inning with a solo home run by Anthony Rizzo to give Chicago a 6-4 lead. The game remained 6-4 until the top of the fourth. With Bryant on first, Montero then doubled, scoring Bryant, as the score then was 7-4.
By this point, Villanueva had entered the game, relieving Martinez. The final line of the night for Martinez: 3.2 IP, 9 H, 7 R, 7 H, 4 BB, 4 K. During the top of the sixth inning, the Cubs were able to add another run after Peralta committed a fielding error with Rizzo up at the plate, allowing Coghlan to score.
In the bottom of the sixth, it was 8-4 Chicago. The half inning started with a single by Reynolds, followed by a single by Jason Heyward. Kolten Wong then singled to center, allowing Reynolds to score to cut the lead of the Cubs to 8-5.
After a popout by Cruz, Heyward would advance to third base.
It was also during the bottom of the sixth inning that former Cardinal closer Jason Motte entered the game to a nice ovation, in an effort to relieve Wood. Peter Bourjos, pinch-hitting for Villanueva, hit a sacrifice fly to center-field, scoring Heyward, cutting the deficit to 8-6.
Still trailing by two runs heading into the bottom of the seventh, St. Louis finally took the lead. First, Heyward would ground into a fielder’s choice, which scored Holliday, who had led-off with an infield single. Wong then singled to left-center field, scoring Peralta, Heyward advancing to third, and on the throw, brought Wong to second. With the game tied up at 8-8, Cruz, who started as Yadier Molina got a day off, would double to left field, scoring both Heyward and Wong, and suddenly, the Cardinals took a 10-8 lead.
The bullpen of St. Louis, who was used up in major fashion during a 14-inning victory the day before against Pittsburgh, continued to pitch strong during the eighth inning, and in the top of the ninth, Seth Maness was brought in to make the save. While pitching well at first, second baseman Addison Russell hit a solo home run to cut the Cardinals lead down to one.
However, Maness finished the save opportunity, and the St. Louis Cardinals would win 10-9, which increased their record to 19-6, and continued their winning streak at seven straight games. Meanwhile, the second-place Cubs, who have lost four of five, drop to 13-11 on the season.
Tomorrow, pitcher Tyler Lyons will get the start for the Cardinals.
(AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
