In the eighth, the Cubs loaded the bases on a single and two walks, then Cardinals reliever Jonathan Broxton walked in a run. With a 1-2 count on Soler, the Cubs gambled, and sent Berry on an attempted steal.
Advertisement
Here are my answers.
“The eighth inning… you throw your hands up on three bloop hits and a ground ball”. Right fielder Jason Heyward had a throw from right field that cut down what would have been the tying run at home plate.
Miguel Sano’s two-run homer tied the score for the Twins in the seventh. That’s why Berry is on this roster, for situations exactly like that one. Lester hasn’t gotten much offensive or defensive support in four starts against the Cardinals this season, going 1-2 despite a 1.78 ERA. He had been 25-for-25 in the regular season, five-for-five in the postseason.
“We’re excited about it, and it’s not something we take for granted”, said Cardinals closer Trevor Rosenthal, who earned his 46th save after throwing 1 1/3 innings. But, they soon were quieted when Rookie Tommy Pham, (.272 BA) second in the order, was at the plate. He allowed four runs in six innings while striking out seven. After Cubs starter Dan Haren hit Matt Holliday in the helmet with a pitch, the Cardinals responded by hitting Anthony Rizzo twice.
Kirby Yates (1-0) got two outs for the win. “But you know what?”
Molina left a game against the Milwaukee Brewers on April 24 after taking a foul tip off of his right knee protector.
Eight of their hits came in the fifth inning, as they scored five runs to erase a 2-0 Cincinnati lead. They average only one attempt per 36.7 innings against him then. Bryce Harper had three hits, including a double, and scored three times.
The Cubs bullpen did a good job Sunday.
The Houston Astros had a 10-6 win over the Oakland Athletics, the Texas Rangers trounced the Seattle Mariners 10-1, the Colorado Rockies dominated the San Diego Padres 10-2, the Detroit Tigers overcame the Kansas City Royals 6-5 over 11 innings and the Pittsburgh Pirates were 3-2 winners over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“I could not be more proud of our guys”, manager Joe Maddon said. With the series finale against the Cardinals, I kicked around four or five. Meanwhile, the Cardinals have looked mortal in the month of September, winning just seven of seventeen games. Since it didn’t, I guess it worked, but that was a risk. After they won two of three games against the Cards, they had a letdown when they split a four-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies, the team with the worst record in baseball. It would have been a longshot even with a win Sunday afternoon.
Any illusions the Cubs had about winning the division were essentially dashed with Sunday’s loss.
That’s the Cubs’ prevailing mood with 13 games left in the regular season, including three against the wild-card-leading Pirates. The Cubs are comfortably in position for a wild card.
Advertisement
“How far we’ve come in one season to get to this particular game today”.
