Cubs win six straight as Steele stays perfect against Cardinals |
ST. LOUIS - When you talk about having a team's number, look no further than what Justin Steele has done against the St. Louis Cardinals (46-58) this season. Entering his start on Thursday at Busch Stadium, Steele came into the game with a 3-0 mark and was looking to become the first pitcher since Greg Maddux in 2004 to go 4-0 against the Cardinals in one season.
Two of those wins for Steele came at Wrigley Field, with the other one coming in London as the left-hander has carved them up all season. Despite not having his best stuff on Thursday, Steele continued to deliver as he gutted out six innings of one-run ball in the sweltering heat to put himself in a position to win his 11th game. “I think everybody in the locker room feels good with where we're at,” said Steele after the game. “We're clicking. What we're doing right now, we feel like we can do this the entire season.” The Chicago Cubs (51-51) offense took care of the rest as they continue to lead the National League in runs scored since the all-star break with a 10-3 win. While Steele was up to his usual tricks, Miles Mikolas wasn't, as he didn't even make it out of the first inning. No, it wasn't because of an injury or anything like that, but instead, he was ejected from the game for throwing at Ian Happ not once but twice in the same at-bat as Dakota Hudson, and the Cardinals pen had to work overtime which could affect them later on this weekend. Miles Mikolas throwing at Ian Happ, and then being ejected, as seen and heard on Bally Sports Midwest (Cardinals). Losing Mikolas that early hurt, but that hit-by pitch seemed to awaken the Cub's offense as Cody Bellinger followed that up with a single before the walk to Seiya Suzuki loaded the bases. Dansby Swanson pushed home the game's first run on an RBI walk, with Christopher Morel coming through with another clutch hit as his RBI double put the Cubs in front 3-0. That's what we call a hot start.🔥 pic.twitter.com/eWLipGUYfR Not only did the Cubs not look back, but they continued to add on in the early innings off of Hudson, as their offense has been relentless the past two weeks. If one two-out rally wasn't enough, why not make it two? Swanson kept the line moving for the Cubs with a two-out single. That was followed by three more singles from Morel, Yan Gomes, and Miles Mastrobuoni as the latter two drove in a pair to push the Cubs lead to 5-0 in the third. With Steele continuing to fire zeroes after working out of a mini jam in the third, Nico Hoerner opened the fourth with yet another hit as his RBI double put another runner in scoring position. Bellinger would advance Hoerner to third with his single while the Suzuki force-out pushed home another run with the Cubs in complete control at this point, 6-0. After Willson Contreras left the game in the first after getting hit in the head by a Happ follow-through, Andrew Knizner replaced him and gave the Cardinals their first run of the game with a solo shot to begin the bottom half of the fourth. That was followed by a Tyler O'Neil single and a Nolan Gorman walk later in the inning, but Steele managed to escape that jam without further damage. With Hudson leaving the game to begin the top half of the sixth, Mike Tauchman greeted the new Cardinals pitcher Andrew Suarez the best way he could as the Cubs began the sixth inning with a solo blast to extend their lead back to 7-1. They would continue their offensive onslaught against the horrendous Cardinals bullpen in the seventh as a pair of walks to Swanson and Morel set things up for Gomes, who doubled both of them in to push the Cubs lead to 9-1. Gomes is having a career year this season and has made the Cubs forget about Contreras based on his play alone. After tossing 92 pitches across six innings, Steele saw his day come to an end as David Ross went with the young flame thrower Daniel Palencia in the seventh. Since being called up from AAA, Palencia has been excellent and made quick work of the Cardinals with a perfect seventh, as his ERA remains below 3.00. Anthony Kay would then come on to make his first appearance in quite a while, and there was some visible rust for the left-hander. Not only did Kay allow a leadoff double to Alec Burleson to begin the bottom half of the eighth, but two batters later, it was Knizner again coming through as his second homer of the game brought the Cardinals to within 9-3. Knizner was the Cardinal's offense in this one, as he drove in all three. O'Neill picked up another double off Kay immediately after that homer. Still, the Cubs lefty got through the rest of the inning without allowing another run, while Tauchman came through with another RBI single in the ninth to cap off the scoring in another dominating 10-3 win. Double digits! pic.twitter.com/6Aa91rdT5H Anytime you have 14 hits as a team and score 10 runs, you are doing something right, and the Cubs offense is clicking right now. Tauchman, Bellinger, and Morel based the offense with three hits, while Gomes added two. These teams will meet again on Friday as Jordan Montgomery takes the ball for the Red Birds against a starter TBD.
Some rare company for Justin Steele pic.twitter.com/DoYIXIeAwW
#Cubs win 6th straight game. Christopher Morel helped get the offense rolling early. pic.twitter.com/9Fkib2mliF
Ian Happ on Willson Contreras and Miles Mikolas postgame. pic.twitter.com/ZElF4AOsZZ
"COME ON! YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME! YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! HAVE A LITTLE FEEL FOR BASEBALL! HAVE A LITTLE FEEL FOR THE GAME! THAT'S AWFUL"- Brad Thompson https://t.co/y3cTZo1OiN pic.twitter.com/IUTU4ij8pV
— Justin Steele (@J_Steele21) July 28, 2023
