Cubs belt six homers to rout rival Cardinals |
ST. LOUIS — Just when you thought the Chicago Cubs (47-51) figured things out and started to run around their season, they were swept in a doubleheader by the St. Louis Cardinals (50-46) Saturday at Busch Stadium. Those two losses virtually took all the momentum this team gained away from them, and they are once again searching for answers.
However, with one game remaining until the all-star break, the Cubs had an opportunity to earn a split with the Cardinals and set the tone for what they hope is an exciting second half. Backed by another strong Jameson Taillon start and a relentless offense that connected for six long balls, the Cubs indeed managed to pick up the split as they topped the Cardinals 8-3. Seven of the eight runs scored came on those homers as the Cubs finally showed the power they have lacked most of the season. One of the biggest names on the trade market among starting pitchers is Taillon, who is emerging as one of the league's most consistent starters. Following 5 2/3 innings of three-run ball, Taillon continued to deliver quality start after quality start as he improved to 7-4 on the season. “Those dudes sort of just flying all over the field,” Taillon said. “They played a doubleheader yesterday. They come out today playing that kind of ‘D’ with that kind of effort. That's pretty inspirational, and that means a lot to me.” For as good as Taillon was most of the game, things didn't start well, especially during the second inning. With Brendan Donovan and Nolan Arenado starting things off with a pair of singles, the Cardinals' offense was in business and had the pressure on the Cubs yet again. Three batters later, another single got the job done, with Pedro Pages cashing in with a two-run single to put the Cardinals in front 2-0. This was the lone lead the Cardinals would have, as the Cubs' offense was about to eat Miles Mikolas alive. It all started in the bottom of the second with Pete Crow-Armstrong delivering the first of six Cubs homers as he had the best day of his professional career at the plate. PCA with his first career road 💣 pic.twitter.com/cvevGe3aDi His homer was followed by a Nico Hoerner double, while a two-out Seiya Suzuki single brought things back to even 2-2. Seiya ties it up! pic.twitter.com/JOu7resVum That was only the beginning for the Cubs offense as they scored six unanswered runs to open things up. The long ball continued to play a massive role in the Cubs' success in the fifth, with Tomas Nido and Crow-Armstrong going back-to-back to give the Cubs the lead for good, 4-2. N I D O 💥 pic.twitter.com/6Sx0Svf7oK “Everybody's working hard to try to contribute,” Nido said. “Sometimes it doesn't go our way, but it seems like lately we've been putting together really good at-bats and scoring a lot of runs.” Pete Cruises the bases Again 😎 pic.twitter.com/bxniJo16qs Crow-Armstrong's second homer was historic. He became the youngest player in history to hit multiple homers in a game at Busch Stadium. “It's funny how this game works,” Crow-Armstrong said. “We did a lot of curveball machine work over the last two weeks every day and it worked out for me.” He also became the first player in the MLB to go 17-17 in SB across his first 60 games since Evereth Cabrera in 2012. PCA also joined Ian Happ (2017), Ryne Sandberg (1982), and Jerry Kindall (1957) as they were only rookies 22 years old or younger to have two homers and one steal in the same game. “There's no secret that I've been pretty crap at the plate,” Crow-Armstrong said. “So I think there's a balance of focusing on the defensive side of things, and now I guess it's just kind of evening that out and acting like I belong here and hopefully more days like that come.” Now with the lead, the Cubs offense looked to keep things rolling, as Suzuki opened the top of the sixth with a single. Two batters later, the long ball was making some noise again, as the Christopher Morel homer extended the Cubs lead to 6-2 and gave the Cubs a comfortable four-run cushion. Christopher Morel absolutely CRUSHED this ball 🚀 pic.twitter.com/c0wHCowEUT Not only did the Cubs live and die by the long ball in this one, but the Cardinals knew they needed to flex their muscles to get back in the game as Alec Burleson connected for a leadoff to begin the bottom of the sixth to pull the Cardinals within 6-3. That would be it for the Cardinals offense as Taillon grided it out for a few more hitters before handing the ball off to Drew Smyly and the bullpen. Smyly was not only good but also perfect in his 1 1/3 inning of work, as the Cardinals had no answers for him. That allowed Craig Counsell to turn to Jorge Lopez for the final two innings, but with a three-run lead, the Cubs were hoping to add on to put this game out of reach. Leave it to the long ball for that as Happ and Morel went back to back in the top half of the eighth to stretch their lead to 8-3, as the Cubs went back to back twice in the same game. Christopher Morel homers (18) on a fly ball to left field. pic.twitter.com/syooJXUEsu This was also just the third time in Cubs history that two players recorded their first career multi-homer game in the same game. Lopez took care of the rest from there as he tossed two scoreless frames to end the game as the Cubs closed out the unofficial first half with a bit of momentum and knocked off the Cardinals 8-3. For the fifth time in their last six games, the Cubs racked up double-digit hits as they finished with 11. Suzuki, Happ, Morel, and PCA led the way with two hits. “I think we're going into it in the way we wanted to go into it,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “We finished the job today and got a split in the series and finished a 5-2 road trip, so it's a good way to go into the break.” This good, @WatchMarquee? pic.twitter.com/PPY3g47X2l Pete Crow-Armstrong has his best day in the big leagues. #Cubs win. pic.twitter.com/1ZBaL27ZR7 “Pete had his best day in the big leagues.” “[My teammates] coming out today and playing that kind of defense with that kind of effort, that’s pretty inspirational.”
PCA was feeling GOOD today 💪 pic.twitter.com/iJW74Awz3J
Jameson Taillon tips his cap to the Cubs’ defense 👏 pic.twitter.com/sV1VLcmOeP
