Luke Weaver vs. Tyler Chatwood

 

FIRST INNING:

Cubs take a 1-0 lead. Rizzo led off with a triple and scored on a fielder’s choice double play ball.

Jesse Rogers @ESPNChiCubs

With his lead off triple today, Anthony Rizzo is hitting .588 with a .667 OBP when he leads off a game for the Cubs in his career (top or bottom of the first). He’s slugging 1.529 with a 2.196 OPS. ‪http://www.espn.com/espn/now?nowId=21-41024268-4 …

 

SECOND INNING:

No runs.

 

THIRD INNING:

Carpenter hits a solo shot to right! That’s now 7 homers in the last 5 games for Matt Carpenter. He has homered in 5 consecutive games. Don’t pitch to him anymore!

1-1.

The Cubs have left 6 men on base through 3 innings.

 

FOURTH INNING:

No runs. Besides that homer from Carpenter, the Cardinals haven’t been a threat offensively. That’s the only hit they have. Somebody besides Marp will have to step up. Who will it be?

Meanwhile, the Cubs have had many runners on base but only one run to show for it.

 

FIFTH INNING:

Garcia walked and Weaver laid down a sac bunt. There’s an intentional walk to Carpenter. Intimidation! With a full count, Chatwood’s pitch hits Yadi on the elbow to load the bases. And Paul DeJong grounds into an inning ending double play. That was a huge missed opportunity.

The bottom of the fifth did not go well. Three singles in a row by Heyward, Zobrist and Baez gave the Cubs a 2-1 lead.

Weaver out. Mayers in. Luke Weaver’s final line: 4 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 2 K, 5 BB.

Zobrist scores on a sac fly to make it 3-1. The Cubs are playing small ball today. Ozuna catches a fly ball in left and throws out Baez at home. 3-1 Cubs.

Jen Lengosch summed it up on Twitter –

In the span of five pitches, the ‪#STLCards squandered a base-loaded, one-out opportunity and lost the lead with three Chicago singles.

 

SIXTH INNING:

Joe Maddon removes Chatwood after he allows a one out walk to Pham. But reliever Carl Edwards gets the last two outs in the sixth.

 

SEVENTH INNING:

The lefty Wilson now pitches for the Cubs. Munoz reaches on a single. Jose Martinez pinch hits. The ball takes a bad hop and he’s safe at first. Time to do some damage. Enter, Matt Carpenter, the pure slayer of baseballs. How I feel right now reminds me of when Pujols was setting records early in his career. The ball is caught at the center field wall, as Munoz tags from second to third.Cishek in for Wilson. Yadi’s sac fly scores Munoz and it’s 3-2 Cubs. DeJong has a chance for redemption. Groundout.

The Cubs add insurance runs and it was a brutal inning for Tyler Lyons. He walked Heyward and then allowed a single. Heyward went from first to third. The next batter, Baez, hits a bloop double and it’s 4-2. Schwarber is put on intentionally to face Caratini. One out, bases loaded. His sac fly to right makes it 5-2 Cubs.

An RBI single brings in two more runs. 7-2. Finally, Tyler Lyons is out and Gregerson is brought in. I’m afraid it’s too late.

 

EIGHTH INNING:

I have nothing exciting to report.

 

NINTH INNING:

The Cubs take game 1 of the doubleheader 7-2.

Game notes:

• The Cubs busted it open with four runs in the bottom of the seventh.
• It was a bad, bad day for the bullpen. You’d like to see Luke Weaver make it 5 innings and beyond.
• The Cardinals recorded 18 hits on Friday and double digit runs. But only 2 this afternoon.  This is the definition of a feast or famine offense. It has been that way all season.
• The turning point today was the double play that ended the Cardinals threat in the fifth.