CHICAGO — Twice the Cardinals were in need of a shutdown inning from their pitchers on Saturday, and they couldn’t get it either time.
A two-run fifth inning that included a long home run from Nolan Gorman broke a 3-3 tie, but Miles Mikolas allowed back-to-back doubles to open the bottom of the fifth and both runners came around to score, forcing another tie.
Then in the sixth inning, the Cardinals regained the lead thanks to a wild pitch, but the Cubs responded with three runs in the bottom of the inning that ended up giving them the win at Wrigley Field.
The Cubs sent a combined 16 batters to the plate in the two innings, getting six hits, drawing three walks and having one batter hit by a pitch.
The second and third-place hitters for the Cubs, Nico Hoerner and Ian Happ, were a combined five-of-seven and scored six runs. The fourth place hitter, Cody Bellinger, drove in four runs.
Here is how Saturday’s game broke down:
At the plate: The game got off to a quick start for the Cardinals when Lars Nootbaar hit the first pitch for a home run. He went on to add a double, single and drew a walk, scoring three runs … Willson Contreras drove in two runs with a sacrifice fly and a double … Gorman’s homer, with two outs in the fifth, was his 20th of the season … The Cardinals had only one hit over the final three innings, a one-out pinch-hit single by Brendan Donovan in the ninth, but Alec Burleson struck out and Tyler O’Neill out to center to end the game.
On the mound: Miles Mikolas was allowed 11 hits and five runs in his five innings of work, throwing 102 pitches. He had allowed a total of three runs in 16 innings over his previous three starts … Zack Thompson retired only one of the five hitters he faced in the sixth inning, giving up three runs, as the Cubs erased the Cardinals’ 6-5 lead … Drew VerHagen, activated from the injured list before the game, allowed one of two inherited runners to score but escaped further damage by getting back-to-back strikeouts to get out of the bases-loaded jam … Dakota Hudson pitched the final two innings after a long rain delay, working around two walks and a single.
Key stat: This was the 34th game this season in which the Cardinals have scored six or more runs. Their record in those games is 27-7. Since May 7, they are 20-4 when they scored six or more runs.
Worth noting: Nootbaar’s home run was the 10th leadoff homer by a Cardinals’ hitter in the 1,021 games they have played at Wrigley Field since 1916. It was only the third since 1980, joining Dexter Fowler in 2017 and Matt Carpenter in 2018 … Cardinals’ manager Oli Marmol was ejected in the sixth inning for arguing a strike call against Nolan Arenado. It was his fourth ejection of the season and seventh of his career … Contreras left the game in the sixth inning because of right hip tightness. His status was listed as day-to-day … To make room for VerHagen on the roster, Kyle Leahy was optioned to Memphis.
Looking ahead: The four-game series will conclude with a 1:20 p.m. game on Sunday. Jordan Montgomery will start for the Cardinals.
