Paul Goldschmidt and Giovanny Gallegos might not want to see July come to an end on Wednesday.
The two Cardinals continued what has been a fabulous month for both of them on Tuesday night as the Cardinals beat the Cubs in the opener of the first-place, three-game showdown at Busch Stadium.
Goldschmidt’s homer with one out in the sixth inning broke a 1-1 tie, his seventh homer in his last eight games and his 11th this month, which ties the most he has hit in any month in his career (August of 2017). His 27 RBIs this month are tied for the second-highest RBI total of any month in his career.
The blast came a half-inning after Gallegos came into a bases-loaded jam in the tie game and got Kyle Schwarber to fly out to left to end the inning.
It was the seventh time this season Gallegos has inherited a bases-loaded jam and he has allowed only two of those 21 runners to score.
This was the ninth appearance in July for Gallegos, who has allowed only three hits in 41 at-bats this month, covering 12 2/3 innings, giving up just one run, walking three and striking out 18. He also has stranded all eight of his inherited runners this month.
The Cardinals are now 16-8 with one game left in July and improved to 13-5 since the All-Star break. They lead the Cubs by one game in the NL Central.
The home team has won all 10 of the games between the two rivals this season (six by the Cubs, four by the Cardinals). The Cubs saw their road record this season fall to 20-32.
Here is how the game broke down:
At the plate: The Cardinals scored their first run in the fourth when Jose Martinez singled, went to third on a single by Goldschmidt and scored on Yu Darvish’s second consecutive wild pitch … Tommy Edman had two singles and two stolen bases but each time was left stranded on second base. It’s the third time since 2012 a Cardinals’ leadoff hitter had two hits and two stolen bases in a game; Kolten Wong did it once in 2017 and Tommy Pham once last year … Edman is now 6-of-6 in stolen base attempts after going 9-of-9 earlier this year in Memphis … The Cardinals won despite going 0-of-7 with runners in scoring position … It was the fourth 2-1 win for the Cardinals this season, three of which have come against the Cubs.
On the mound: Adam Wainwright allowed just three hits and one run, on an RBI single from Javy Baez, in the first five innings before running into trouble with two outs in the sixth. Anthony Rizzo doubled and following an intentional walk to Baez, Wainwright issued an unintentional walk to load the bases and end his night … After Gallegos got out of that jam, he, Andrew Miller and Carlos Martinez combined to cover the final three innings … Martinez earned the four-out save, recording three strikeouts … The results in the sixth might have been different had Matt Wieters not thrown out Jason Heyward trying to steal as part of a strikeout-caught stealing double play before Rizzo’s double. Wieters has seven caught stealing while allowing seven stolen bases this season.
Key stat: Goldschmidt’s homer extended the Cardinals’ current streak to 13 consecutive games with a home run and was their 40th this month, only two away from the club record of 42 for July set in 2000 and matched in 2004.
Worth noting: The Cardinals added their second left-handed reliever in two days on Tuesday, claiming Adalberto Mejia on waivers from the Angels after he had been designated for assignment. Mejia, 26, also has pitched for the Twins. The Cardinals said he will be traveling to St. Louis from the Dominican Republic on Wednesday and they are hopeful he will arrive in time to be added to the roster for Wednesday night’s game … Marcell Ozuna began his rehab assignment in Memphis on Tuesday night, going 1-of-3. The hit was an RBI single to center field … It’s likely that Jedd Gyorko will join Ozuna in Memphis on Wednesday night. He had been set to report to the team on Tuesday but was told Monday not to leave town. It’s also possible that Gyorko could be included in a trade before Wednesday’s deadline … Yadier Molina has been cleared to resume “light” baseball activities and the team hopes he can begin swinging a bat by the end of the week … Matt Carpenter was 0-of-2 with a walk on Tuesday night in Springfield. He is now 0-of-21 during his minor-league rehab assignment. With Springfield heading on a road trip, Carpenter will return to Memphis to continue his search for his swing.
Looking ahead: The trading deadline is 3 p.m. St. Louis time on Wednesday … The Cardinals will send Miles Mikolas to the mound in the second game of the series, with Kyle Hendricks set to pitch for the Cubs.
Follow Rob Rains on Twitter @RobRains
