The Cardinals had a team meeting Wednesday to discuss a few matters.
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And so was having fun.
Cardinals rookie Stephen Piscotty continues to show a penchant for making quick adjustments.
Maddon additionally welcomed the problem of dealing with the Cardinals, whom they’re 1-6 towards at steamy Busch Stadium.
“We have to do a better job”. He called the start his “best of the season because I had to find a way to compete”.
Up next: St. Louis will open up a 10-game, 11-day road trip through the NL Central with the start of a four-game series in Cincinnati on Thursday. If the Cubs can win the wild card game and run into the Cardinals in the NLDS, there’s a good chance that the Cubs can shock the world and win the series.
Trailing 3-1 with six outs left Wednesday, the St. Louis Cardinals were about to be swept by the Chicago Cubs, which would have made things even tighter in the National League Central.
The Chicago Cubs look to build on their five-game winning streak.
“That’s one of the teams I have to be on the top of my game [against], because they’re in our division”, Strop said.
“I just didn’t have any command”, he said. The odds of it happening in the first and affecting a run, I’ve got to say, are fairly low.
Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said he wasn’t surprised that Piscotty came through in the clutch. “It’s a nice, sure approach that allows him to be very consistent for a young player”. The pitching is hardly lasting into the third and fourth inning in some games, one for example would be the first game against the cubs, where the Cardinals lost 9-0.
“I’m seeing the ball well, barreling balls well”, Fowler said. “The crowd was loud and it was exciting. Man, that was fun”.
Hammel allowed four hits and three runs in six-plus innings, walking four and whiffing six.
After Carpenter tripled to lead off the first for St. Louis, Heyward came to the plate and smashed an RBI single up the middle to score Carpenter and cut into the Cubs’ lead to make it 2-1.
“I thought he was really good today after that first inning”, Maddon said of Lester. “He kept coming out and grinding and that’s a great sign of what could come”. “I was still throwing bullpens in between and keeping the same kind of routine as if I was starting”. Jung Ho Kang hit Pittsburgh’s first grand slam of the season, a tiebreaking shot in the sixth inning.
Rizzo appeared to be caught in a rundown following his double, but Martinez failed to cover third, allowing Rizzo to take an extra base.
Rizzo also contributed a RBI double in the contest. “We have to learn to play well in this venue”. “We’re not going to rule this out again in the future”.
“I wanted to attack him with my fastball. The bigger issue there was letting that rundown get away”. Greg Garcia pinch hit next, slapping a single (8-for-19 now as a pinch hitter) to put two on for Carpenter.
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Dexter Fowler had a leadoff home run and two-run double in the first two innings. The bullpen held the status quo, keeping the Cardinals within two runs heading into the eighth, where the offense finally churned to life.
