Cubs fall to Cardinals, despite Ian Happ's multi-homer performance |
CHICAGO — Showing no signs of rust after missing the previous game due to a facial contusion, Chicago Cubs (23-16) leadoff man Ian Happ slugged two solo home runs in the opener of Saturday's doubleheader at Wrigley Field. However, Happ's heroics were not enough to lead the Cubs to victory, as the St. Louis Cardinals (15-15) edged out the Cubs by a final tally of 4-2. Adbert Alzolay made his second start of the season for the Cubs and lasted just 2 2/3 innings, in which he struck out four but walked five and gave up two hits and two runs. Adam Wainwright, on the other hand, pitched a gem for the Cardinals, aside from giving up the aforementioned homers to Happ. Wainwright tossed 6 1/3 innings of six-hit ball, striking out six and walking just one. Inning-by-Inning Breakdown: T1: Alzolay was solid out of the gate, working a scoreless first. Score: Cardinals 0, Cubs 0 B1: Sporting a shiner around his right eye from a foul ball that bounced into a face on Thursday, Happ was clearly not held back by the bruise, as he skied a dinger on the second pitch of his first at-bat. The 401-footer to right provided the Cubs with an early lead that they failed to hold onto. Score: Cardinals 0, Cubs 1 T2: A leadoff walk was followed by a fielding error from Kris Bryant at third base. Alzolay struck the next two batters out before drawing an inning-ending fielder's choice. Score: Cardinals 0, Cubs 1 B2: In the latest episode of a discouraging trend for the Cubs, in which they have failed to convert bases-loaded opportunities into rallies, the North Siders loaded the bases with nobody out but did not score any runs. In fact, Chicago was unable to hit the ball out of the infield after filling the bases. Score: Cardinals 0, Cubs 1 T3: A pair of singles and a walk led to the Cardinals having the bases loaded themselves. A ground ball hit by Paul DeJong plated Kolten Wong, and, a few plate appearances later, Matt Carpenter was walked to force in a run. Ryan Tepera relieved Alzolay at that point and drew a lineout to escape the jam. Score: Cardinals 2, Cubs 1 B3: The Cubs went down in order. Score: Cardinals 2, Cubs 1 T4: Lane Thomas tagged Tepera for a leadoff double and made it to third on an ensuing single by Wong. Tommy Edman plated Thomas with a sacrifice fly, and DeJong went on to score Wong via a two-out base knock. Score: Cardinals 4, Cubs 1 B4: Kyle Schwarber tabbed a leadoff single but did not score. Score: Cardinals 4, Cubs 1 T5: Jason Adam toed the rubber and went three up, three down. Score: Cardinals 4, Cubs 1 B5: Happ, who has a history of hitting well when facing Wainwright, went yard again, extending his streak of tallying an extra-base hit to six straight games. The 370-footer off Wainwright traveled out to left-center for Happ's 12th round-tripper of the season. Score: Cardinals 4, Cubs 2 T6: Adam went 1-2-3 again his next time out. Score: Cardinals 4, Cubs 2 B6: Javy Baez smacked a leadoff single, but the Cubs squandered it. Score: Cardinals 4, Cubs 2 T7: Daniel Winkler outed all three batters he faced. Score: Cardinals 4, Cubs 2 B7: Following a Nico Hoerner base hit with one out, Wainwright was relieved by Giovanny Gallegos with Happ stepping up to the plate. Happ lined out, but Edman then committed a fielding error at third on a potential game-ending groundout hit by Bryant. The error brought the winning run to the plate for the Cubbies, but Anthony Rizzo failed to come up clutch, as he struck out swinging for the final out. Final Score: Cardinals 4, Cubs 2
