Cubs starter Yu Darvish struck out nine in six innings pitched but ultimately received the losing decision. (Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports)
Cubs provide Yu Darvish with little run support, lose to Cardinals |
by Cole Little
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Senior Writer
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Wed Jul 31 00:02:20 GMT-04:00 2019
ST. LOUIS — A pair of wild pitches and a solo home run essentially provided the St. Louis Cardinals (57-49) with a series-opening victory over the rival Chicago Cubs (56-50) at Busch Stadium on Tuesday night. The Cubs went 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position and left 10 runners stranded on base as they converted six hits and six walks into just one run. The Cardinals were not any better, with the Redbirds tallying seven hits and zero walks and going 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position, but, in the end, the Cardinals pulled out a 2-1 win.
Cubs starter Yu Darvish pitched fairly well in his six innings of work, despite receiving very little run support. Darvish struck out nine and gave up both St. Louis runs en route to being handed the losing decision. Veteran Adam Wainwright started on the mound for the Cardinals, and he pitched 5 2/3 innings of 1-run ball, in which he struck out five. Both bullpens held their own, with a mere two hits taking place with relievers toeing the rubber.
The North Siders struck first by going up 1-0 in the top of the fourth. Former Cardinal Jason Heyward sparked the inning for the Cubs by smacking a deep single that one-hopped the wall in right field. Heyward eventually made it to third base with two outs, and Javier Baez proceeded to bring him home by swinging at the first pitch and smacking an RBI single to left field. Heyward went 3-for-5 at the dish on the evening and was the lone Cub to record multiple hits.
Darvish suffered through a rough fourth inning that included two wild pitches. Following a pair of singles that incited the bottom of the fourth for the Cardinals, Darvish threw two wild pitches in short order, with the second one resulting in Jose Martinez scoring from third to tie the game at 1-1. The Cardinals were unable to manufacture any additional runs in the inning, but they went on to take a 2-1 lead when Paul Goldschmidt hammered a 392-foot solo shot to left in the bottom of the sixth.
Prior to Goldschmidt going yard, the Cubs loaded the bases in the top half of the sixth. Heyward led off with a single and was subsequently thrown out while attempting to steal second. Anthony Rizzo responded by reaching second base himself on a double to deep right-center. After an intentional walk and a 4-pitch unintentional walk, Wainwright was removed from the game, and his replacement, Giovanny Gallegos, got the Cardinals out of the bases-loaded jam by forcing Kyle Schwarber to fly out and end the inning.
Chicago sported men on first and second with two outs in the seventh and eighth frames, but neither situation culminated in runs being scored. Cardinals reliever Carlos Martinez sat the Cubs down in order in the ninth to assure the Cubs of a 2-1 defeat in the first installment of the 3-game set. Thus far this season, every series between the Cardinals and the Cubs has been a sweep, so the Cubs will have to win at least one of the two remaining matchups in this series to avoid keeping that streak alive.
| Chicago Cubs at St. Louis Cardinals |
| Jul 30, 2019 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
R |
H |
E |
| Chicago (56-50) |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
6 |
1 |
| St. Louis (57-49) |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
- |
2 |
7 |
0 |
| W: Giovanny Gallegos (3-1) L: Yu Darvish (3-5) S: Carlos Martinez (11) |
