ST. LOUIS — It was a rare night when the Cardinals normally lock-down relievers – Andrew Kittredge, JoJo Romero and Ryan Helsley – all struggled, but the team’s offense had a message for them.
Don’t worry about it. We got this.
Matt Carpenter had a key pinch-hit single, Brendan Donovan a two-run single and Lars Nootbaar brought him in with a triple in a four-run eighth inning that provided the cushion the bullpen needed for the win over the Cubs on Saturday night at Busch Stadium.
Kittredge had allowed the go-ahead run in the seventh that put the Cubs in front 4-3. Romero allowed three hits in the eighth but no runs, and pitching with a three-run lead in the ninth, Helsley gave up four hits and two runs before finally getting the game’s final out with the would-be tying run on third base.
Combined the trio allowed eight hits and three runs over the game’s last three innings.
After waiting through a day off and a rainout the two previous days, the Cardinals extended their winning streak to a season-high four games. It also was their ninth win in their last 11 games.
The Cardinals had been just 1-23 this season when trailing after seven innings.
Here is how Saturday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: Alec Burleson and Nolan Gorman opened the eighth with singles but stayed at first and second as Ivan Herrera took a called third strike and Masyn Winn fouled out. Carpenter’s single in just his second pinch-hit at-bat of the season tied the game and Donovan’s hit gave the Cardinals a 6-4 lead. It became a 7-4 lead on Nootbaar’s triple … The Cardinals had tied the game 3-3 in the sixth on a single by Gorman and a two-out double by Winn, who earlier had extended his hitting streak to 14 games … Nootbaar had three of the team’s season-high 15 hits … Their streak of hitting at least one home run was snapped at 10 games.
On the mound: Miles Mikolas allowed the first three runs by the Cubs, all coming in the fourth inning when a two-out walk preceded a two-run double by Nico Hoerner and an RBI single by Michael Busch … A walk also got Kittredge in trouble, following an error by Goldschmidt, in the seventh with former Cardinal Patrick Wisdom driving in the go-ahead run … Helsley was able to earn his 16th save despite allowing the four hits, matching the total he had allowed in his last nine appearances combined.
Key stat: Helsley had not allowed an earned run since April 8, covering 16 innings. In that stretch opponents had gone 7-of-53 against him, a .132 average, with 19 strikeouts.
Worth noting: The error by Goldschmidt extended the Cardinals streak to 10 consecutive games with an least one error. It was his first error since July 9 of last season … After Friday night’s rainout, the Cubs elected to keep their rotation as planned for Saturday and Sunday night’s games, deciding to skip Shota Imanaga, who had been scheduled to start on Friday night, so he could have an extra break between starts … By pushing Mikolas back from Friday night to Saturday, the Cardinals delayed having to use their fifth starter, still undetermined, until Wednesday’s game in Cincinnati … The top pitching prospect in the Cardinals’ organization, Tink Hence, had the best start of his career Friday night for Springfield. He worked six shutout innings, allowed five hits, walked one and struck out a career-high 13 batters. Hence lowered his ERA for the season to 2.76.
Looking ahead: The Cardinals and Cubs will wrap up their quick series with the ESPN Sunday night game. Sonny Gray will start for the Cardinals, who then will head to Cincinnati to start a nine-game, three-city trip.