ST. LOUIS — Sunday’s Game Report: Cubs 6, Cardinals 5 (10 innings)
The Cardinals likely won’t know for at least a day if they lost more than a game on Sunday.
About three hours before the Cubs completed the 10-inning win at Busch Stadium, Jack Flaherty had to come out of the game after pitching just two innings.
Flaherty told manager Oli Marmol that his arm wasn’t hurting, but felt “dead.” He did not allow a run in his two innings, but walked two and had to throw 49 pitches in his third start since coming off the injured list.
Marmol said the team will not know more about Flaherty’s status until after medical examinations. A team spokesman said Flaherty was believed to be meeting with doctors after the game and that he had left the ballpark.
“He said nothing was hurting, that he had a dead arm,” Marmol said, “that nothing was coming out the way he wanted it to. He was a little stiff but it was not in the same spot we’ve been working on.
“It’s hard to speculate right now. I’m sure we will see the docs and tomorrow have a much better idea of what we have on our hands.”
After missing much of last season because of an oblique injury, Flaherty was sidelined for the first 10 weeks of this year because of issues with his shoulder. He has not had a complete healthy season since 2019.
Flaherty pitched a total of eight innings in his three starts. He had been expected to throw at least 75 pitches on Sunday.
The Cardinals blew a 5-0 lead before the Cubs won the game in the 10th on an RBI single by Willson Contreras off Zack Thompson.
Here is how the game broke down:
At the plate: The Cardinals jumped out to the 5-0 lead with one run in each of the first two innings and three in the third,when they hit three solo homers … Brendan Donovan tripled and scored on a single by Nolan Arenado in the first; a fielder’s choice groundout scored the run in the second after Ivan Herrera got the first hit of his major-league career, and in the third, the homers came from Donovan, Paul Goldschmidt and Juan Yepez. It was the most runs the Cardinals had scored in an inning in a week, a span of 56 innings, since Yepez hit a three-run homer in the ninth inning last Sunday in Boston …The Cardinals had only two hits after the third, a two-out double by Dylan Carlson in the sixth and a two-out single by Herrera in the ninth.
On the mound: With Flaherty out of the game, the Cubs came back to tie the game with five runs in the fourth against the combination of Nick Wittgren and Johan Oviedo. Wittren allowed four consecutive singles before Oviedo game up a two-run double to Rafael Ortega and a two-run single to Contreras. Four of the runs were charged to Wittgren … The Cardinals rolled through six relievers after Flaherty’s early exit, wanting to stay away from Ryan Helsley and Giovanny Gallegos.
Key stat: With his home run and triple, Donovan raised his total number of hits in June to 32.That’s the most by a Cardinals rookie in the month since Albert Pujols also had 32 in 2001. Willie McGee had 34 in the month in 1982. The Cardinals have three games remaining in June.
Worth noting: Goldschmidt’s fielding error in the first inning was the first by the Cardinals in 10 games. It also was the first error committed by Goldschmidt since Aug. 10 of last season, snapping a streak of 109 consecutive games without an error. His two errors last year came in back-to-back games … This was the first time the Cardinals have hit three home runs in an inning this season … Including his two rehab starts, Flaherty’s five starts have come with five different catchers – Julio Rodriguez, Ali Sanchez, Yadier Molina, Andrew Knizner and Herrera on Sunday.
Looking ahead: Adam Wainwright will get the start on Monday night in the first of three games against the Marlins at Busch Stadium.
Follow Rob Rains on Twitter @RobRains