|
 The Cardinals fell 4-3 in 10 innings to the Chicago Cubs and saw
their Central Division lead trimmed to 1 1/2 games as the Pittsburgh
Pirates beat Atlanta 3-2 for their third straight win.
But St. Louis (88-70) isn't ready to cash in.
"That team's not going to give up, but then again neither are we,"
said right-hander Shelby Miller, who started Tuesday but had no
decision. "We know what we're capable of and we'll take it day by
day and try to win each game."
Cubs catcher Welington Castillo drove in first baseman Anthony Rizzo
with a walk-off single in the bottom of the 10th inning as Chicago
(70-88) played spoiler on Tuesday.
Rizzo had reached with a one-out double off the center-field wall
against Cardinals right-handed reliever Pat Neshek (7-2).
Rizzo, who went 3-for-5, advanced to third on right fielder Jorge
Soler's groundout, then scored on the hit by Castillo, who had
homered earlier in the game.
"I was aggressive, looking for something over home plate that I can
drive," said Castillo, who went 2-for-5. "He threw me a slider over
home plate. I was on top of that."
Left-handed reliever Zac Rosscup (1-0) picked up the win.
Neshek worked a 1-2-3 ninth -- including two strikeouts -- and got
one more to start the 10th when shortstop Javier Baez struck out
looking.
Then he ran into trouble as Rizzo stroked a 1-2 pitch for his
double.
"We haven't run him out there for two innings in quite a while, and
we needed him," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "Rizzo got a
hold of one pretty well and got to a point where we ... put a righty
in front of him and Castillo ended up putting together a good
at-bat."
Neither starting pitcher figured in the decision as Miller left
after 4 1/3 innings.
Cubs right-hander Kyle Hendricks, making his 13th big league start,
departed with one out in the sixth after St. Louis put runners on
first and third with none out.
Center fielder Jon Jay pushed pinch hitter Oscar Taveras home from
third with a groundout to second. Left fielder Matt Holliday then
belted his 20th home run of the season to drive in third baseman
Matt Carpenter and tie the game at 3-3.
Hendricks worked 5 1/3 innings and allowed three runs on five hits.
He struck out four and walked one. Right-handed reliever Justin
Grimm put two more runners on base but escaped without any damage.
[to top of second column]
|
The Cardinals threatened in the eighth as Holliday led off with a
double off right-handed reliever Pedro Strop. He reached third on a
wild pitch but was stranded when catcher Yadier Molina grounded out.
The Cubs had runners on first and second with one out in the eighth,
but Cardinals reliever Carlos Martinez struck out Castillo and got
pinch hitter Chris Coghlan to ground out.
Castillo's 13th homer of the season gave the Cubs a 2-0 lead in the
second inning. Castillo sent Miller's 2-2 pitch deep into the
left-field bleachers, driving in third baseman Luis Valbuena, who
had walked.
Cubs left fielder Matt Szczur made it 3-0 with a leadoff home run to
left on an 0-1 pitch in the fifth.
Miller then gave up a bouncing single to left by Hendricks, walked
shortstop Javier Baez and departed in favor of left-hander Tyler
Lyons.
Miller gave up three runs on five hits and two walks, with eight
strikeouts, in 4 1/3 innings.
NOTES: The Cardinals' 8-0 shutout of Chicago on Monday was their
22nd shutout of the season, the most since the club recorded 30 in
1968. ... Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said the flu bug that
afflicted his clubhouse last weekend finally abated and that
everyone is healthy. ... The Cardinals send RHP John Lackey (14-9,
3.86 ERA) against Cubs RHP Jake Arrieta (9-5, 2.65 ERA) in
Wednesday's series finale. Arrieta makes his first appearance since
throwing his first career complete game Sept. 16 against the Reds.
... According to STATS Inc., RF Jorge Soler became the first Cub
with 18 RBIs in his first 17 games since Mandy Books in 1925. ...
The Cubs have a winning record in night games at Wrigley Field this
season, going 21-16 with one more night game to play.
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
