Cardinals win easily at Wrigley Field |
CHICAGO -- The Cardinals defeated their hated rival Cubs 10-4 on a beautiful Saturday afternoon at Wrigley Field to snap a four-game winning streak by the Cubs. The Cardinals made an offensive statement early with four runs in the first inning with a two-run RBI double by catcher Yadier Molina and a two-run single by outfielder Randal Grichuk.
Veteran second baseman Ben Zobrist responded with a two-run triple to make the score 4-2 Cardinals. Stephen Piscotty hit his 22nd homer of the season in the second inning to put the Cardinals up 5-2. The titanic shot went 450 feet and went onto Waveland Avenue. Hammel had enough a very rocky outing going only 2.1 innings giving up six hits, six earned runs with two strikeouts and a walk. His season ERA has skyrocketed in the last few weeks to 3.83. Hammel had won his last seven starts at home giving up only five earned runs over 46 innings pitched. On the flip side, Cardinals power pitcher Al Reyes pitched five innings giving up six hits; three earned runs while striking out six batters. It was his first ever start against the Cubs. Cubs relievers Mike Montgomery, Trevor Cahill, and Travis Woods helped the Cubs keep it close for a while with solid work out of the bullpen giving up no runs in 3.2 innings of work. Dexter Fowler was a homer shy of the cycle with three hits in his first three at-bats of the game. His triple on a line drive to center field went 381 feet and had an exit velocity of 102 MPH. Cubs great Lee Smith sang the seventh inning stretch. The Cardinals made it 10-3 with a RBI double by Matt Adams in the seventh inning, a two-run single by Yadier Molina in the eighth inning, and a RBI single by Stephen Piscotty in the eighth inning. Rookie catcher Willson Contreras hit his 11th homer of the season to left field in the 9th inning to make it 10-4. National League Cy Young candidate Jon Lester will take the mound against RHP Carlos Martinez on ESPN's Sunday night game at 7:05 pm CT. The #Cubs win streak is snapped at four games. https://t.co/W1PtCJAZMk pic.twitter.com/Y2dOVYn8lY Lee Smith has the 7th inning stretch nailed down. ?? pic.twitter.com/TfCDdLOGOn "...the crowd is here and the lights are on and they want a show."
-@LupeFiasco pic.twitter.com/Zd69sqy7TV
