Cardinals-Cubs Recap: Cardinals Dominate Struggling Cubs

The St Louis Cardinals are on a roll. The Cardinals completed their second sweep in a row, as they swept the division rival Cubs in a three game series. The Cubs have now lost five games in a row, making it much easier for the juggernaut Cardinals to take an even bigger lead in the NL Central. The Cardinals are now 51-24 on the year, and have an MLB best 29-7 record at home. The closest team? The Mets, who are 29-11 at home. This sweep pushes the Cardinals to nine games in front of the Pittsburgh Pirates, who benefited from the sweep by jumping out in second place. Here is your recap:

Game one had a showdown between Cardinals pitcher John Lackey, and Cubs Jake Arietta, who has pitched great this year with little run support. This would also be the case for this game as well, as the cubs only offered him two runs against a blazing hot Cardinals team. It seemed as if the Cubs were going to pull game one out, but in the eighth inning, Greg Garcia stepped in as a pinch hitter, and blasted his first career home run to dead center field. It was a great moment for him, the team, and the fans as the home run would take the game into extra innings. In the tenth, the Cardinals would load the bases, and Peter Bourjos would score on an error from Cubs Right Fielder Mike Baxter.

Game two was much more serene for Cardinals fans, even though the Cubs jumped out in front to an early 1-0 lead, the Cardinals wasted no time by scoring four runs in the fourth, and then in the fifth doubling four times in the inning to score four more runs. That is a lot of “4’s” eh? The Cubs would not score another run, as Cardinals pitcher Michael Wacha pitched six strong with only the one run given up. Even though Wacha only pitched six, the Cardinals turned to relief pitcher Carlos Villanueva who would pitch the finals three innings, only giving up one hit.

The final game of the series featured Carlos Martinez facing Jason Hammel. Carlos fought through the rain delay, and pitched six innings while only giving up two hits. The Cubs for the second game in a row would only score one run, and the Cardinals had no trouble getting runs for Martinez, as Xiaver Scruggs plated his sixth RBI this year in the second inning.

The Cardinals continue to dominate with fantastic pitching, (only four runs allowed in the series) and great production from some recent call-ups. ( Scruggs, Garcia, etc) With the Cardinals playing this well, they have a great opportunity to get their third sweep in a row, as they will face a series at home against the last-place Chicago White Sox tomorrow night.

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