Dexter Fowler got the scoring started in the first with his 21st career lead-off home run, and the night did not get kinder to Cardinals starter Jaime Garcia from there. He lasted just one and two-thirds innings for what was the shortest start of his career. Alex Reyes came on, and after striking out Kris Bryant to end the second, he flirted with disaster all night by his own accord. Reyes walked six Cubs in four and a third , but only managed to give up one hit and zero runs. Tightrope successfully walked.
Jason Hammel came into the game with a chip on his shoulder (and in his diet) and while he was generally pretty good, striking out a season-high nine batters through five and two-thirds, he was plagued by a couple of mistakes. The first of the two-run home runs was a bomb by Aledmys Diaz in the second inning, followed by a go-ahead shot by Brandon Moss in the sixth.
The Cardinals bullpen finished off the game with Matt Bowman and Kevin Siegrist combining to work three perfect innings to complete the win in an uneventful final third of the ballgame.
Top Play (WPA): The top play of the game from the Cubs came in the form of an Addison Russell RBI double in the top of the second inning (.115). With Ben Zobrist on first base following a walk, Russell smashed a low breaking ball into the left-field corner. Gary Jones got aggressive on the send, and Zobrist scored from first without a play to give the Cubs a 2-0 lead.
Bottom Play (WPA): When a Cardinal hits the go-ahead home run in the 6th inning, odds are that will be the bottom play by WPA and this game was no different. The two-run home run by Brandon Moss chased Jason Hammel and was the difference in this game (-.304). Moss, who had been mired in a 1-for-41 stretch heading into this game, broke out in a big way and ultimately gave the Cardinals a much-needed win.
Key Moment: While the Cardinals homers were huge in this game, perhaps the biggest moments were Alex Reyes’ abilities to work out of trouble, both inherited and by his own doing. Reyes got out of jams on three separate occasions, the first being his strikeout of Bryant in the second. In the third and fourth he allowed a total of five baserunners, all by walks, and promptly got out of the trouble that he put himself in. This allowed the Cardinals to keep the game tied and eventually take the lead. Without Reyes’ escapes, this game might have been out of hand by the time that Brandon Moss even stepped to the plate in the sixth.
Trend to Watch: I’ve got my eye on a positive and a negative moving forward. The positive is the absolute tear that Dexter Fowler has been on. After a 20 at-bat hitless streak, Fowler has now gone six for his last fifteen with seven walks and four extra base hits. On the opposite side of the spectrum, Jason Heyward has really fallen on hard times since his brief hot stretch following his weekend hiatus. After his three-hit performance against the Giants, Heyward has gone hitless in his last 25 plate appearances with just two walks during that stretch. Heyward still has some time to get back on track, but if he continues to hit this way Joe Maddon is going to have to seriously think about his postseason playing time, no matter how much value he provides on defense and on the basepaths.
Coming Next: The magic number stays at three for the matinee and rubber match tomorrow in St. Louis. What this means is that the Cubs can no longer clinch the division at Busch Stadium. This is something that I’m sure the Cardinals and their fans are thrilled about. The Cubs will head home to Wrigley for a four-game series with the Brewers starting on Thursday, where they will almost assuredly clinch the division at home sometime this weekend. Put my vote in for Friday, which is also coincidentally Kyle Schwarber bobblehead day and a day that I will be in attendance.
Lead photo courtesy Jeff Curry—USA Today Sports