Following a disappointing day on Tuesday, in which the St. Louis Cardinals lost not once, but twice, in a doubleheader against their rival, the Chicago Cubs, the Cardinals looked to win on Wednesday and split the series at two games apiece.
Thanks to a late-inning blast from one of their All-Stars, the series was officially split when the evening concluded.
Jhonny Peralta hit a two-run home run with two outs and two strikes in the ninth inning, giving the Cardinals a 6-5 victory over the Cubs.
The pitching matchup for the evening featured Michael Wacha (10-3, 2.66 ERA) for the Cardinals, facing off against Jason Hammel (5-4, 2.89) for the Cubs.
Both pitchers started off the game by throwing a scoreless first inning.
However, in the second inning, Hammel left the game due to left hamstring tightness. Clayton Richard entered the game to pitch for the injured veteran. Richard first got Jason Heyward to strike out. Yadier Molina then singled, followed by a walk issued to Mark Reynolds.
With one out, Randal Grichuk grounds into a force out, as the Cubs got out Reynolds at second base. Up next stepped veteran Dan Johnson, just called up to the Cardinals 40-man roster. And Johnson beat the shift that was on him, singling to right field, scoring Molina, and giving the Cardinals and early 1-0 lead. But St. Louis wasn’t done there, as Wacha singled as well to right field, scoring Grichuk, to make it 2-0 Cardinals. Richard finally got out of the inning later by getting Matt Carpenter to line out.
It remained a 2-0 game until the top of the fourth inning, when St. Louis added to their lead. Reynolds started it off with a triple, which was followed by another triple by Grichuk, to make it 3-0. Johnson then singled, scoring Grichuk and making it 4-0.
The Cubs, meanwhile, were able to get onto the board. Anthony Rizzo led off with a single, bringing up Kris Bryant, who tripled, scoring Rizzo. After a strikeout thrown by Wacha, Bryant scored on an infield single by Starlin Castro, to make it 4-2 Cardinals.
Travis Wood entered the game in the top of the fifth to relieve Richard, and kept the Cardinals in check throughout the night.
But Chicago, on the other hand, was just getting started.
Their biggest inning came in the bottom of the sixth. It began with a lead off single by Dexter Fowler. Rizzo followed with a single, putting two on for Bryant, who wound up popping out. Jorge Soler then reached on an infield single. Later in the inning, with the bases loaded, two outs, and catcher Miguel Montero at the plate, the bases would be cleared on a double by Montero, giving Chicago a 5-4 lead.
Both Molina and manager Mike Matheny were soon after ejected by umpire Pat Hoberg due to arguing calls regarding balls and strikes.
Mitch Harris entered the game in the bottom of the seventh to pitch for Wacha, whose final line of the game was: 6 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 6 Ks. And Harris threw a 1-2-3 inning.
The Cardinals attempted to rally in the top of the ninth inning. With two outs, Pedro Strop on the mound, and Pete Kozma on first, Peralta stepped up to the plate. With a 1-2 count, Peralta had one last chance to make the at-bat count.
And that’s exactly what he did.
He launched a two-run home run over the ivy at Wrigley, and gave the Cardinals a 6-5 lead.
Closer Trevor Rosenthal then came into the game for the bottom of the ninth, and earned the save, his 25th of the year. Miguel Socolovich improves to 3-1, while Strop falls to 1-4. The Cardinals are now 55-30 on the season, while the Cubs drop to 46-38.
Carlos Martinez will get the start on the mound tomorrow, as the Cardinals head to Pittsburgh, for a critical four game series against the Pirates, who won their 50th game on Wednesday night.
(AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
