Cubs top Cardinals 4-2, earn split of twinbill

[August 20, 2020]  David Bote laced the tiebreaking two-run single in the seventh inning Wednesday night as the Chicago Cubs edged the St. Louis Cardinals 4-2 to salvage a split of a doubleheader in Chicago.

The Cardinals, who won the opener 9-3, were the "home" team in the nightcap, which was a makeup of a game scheduled to be played in St. Louis on Aug. 8 -- one of 15 games the Cardinals had postponed due to a coronavirus outbreak within the team.

The doubleheader was the second in three days between the teams. The Cubs went 3-2 in the five-game series. The Cardinals are 4-4 since resuming play on Saturday.

Kyle Schwarber and Willson Contreras opened the seventh inning with back-to-back singles off Andrew Miller (0-1). After Jason Heyward struck out, Nico Hoerner delivered a pinch-hit single to load the bases.

Giovanny Gallegos entered and gave up Bote's go-ahead hit on an 0-2 pitch.

Jeremy Jeffress (2-1) was credited with the win despite giving up the tying run in the sixth. Craig Kimbrel, who was pulled from the closer's role after recording a 32.40 ERA in his first three outings, threw a hitless seventh for his first save of the season. Kimbrel struck out three of the four batters he faced.

The go-ahead hit provided redemption for Bote, whose throwing error on Tyler O'Neill's grounder leading off the fifth helped spark the Cardinals' rally from a 2-0 deficit. O'Neill took second on the error, went to third on Max Schrock's comebacker and scored on a sacrifice fly by Andrew Knizner.

The Cardinals tied the game an inning later when Jeffress issued one-out walks to Dylan Carlson and Paul Goldschmidt before giving up a two-out RBI single to Brad Miller, who hit .500 (6-for-12) with a homer and eight RBIs in the series.

Cubs starting pitcher Alec Mills (30) delivers against the St. Louis Cardinals during the first inning at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

Cubs starter Adbert Alzolay, making his season debut, and his Cardinals counterpart, Johan Oviedo, making his big league debut, each pitched well in five-inning stints.

Alzolay allowed two hits and one walk while striking out six. The only run he yielded was unearned. Oviedo gave up two runs on two hits and two walks while striking out four. He also made an impressively reflexive play in the fourth, when he snared a Schwarber liner a split second before it would have hit his jaw.

--Field Level Media

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