Am So Sorry: St. Louis Cardinals Top Star Masyn Winn Confirm Another 68.3 Million To….
In answer to the question posed above, no, this wasn’t quite the same game as Saturday’s — in that one, the Cubs blew two leads before a furious ninth-inning rally fell short.
This time, two Paul Goldschmidt two-run homers off Javier Assad were enough to stave off another ninth-inning rally and the Cardinals took the second of the rain-shortened two-game set, 4-3, the Cubs’ fourth loss in a row.
The game was delayed two and a half hours by torrential rain that blew through the St. Louis area. Yes, there was a LOT of rain:
After that was all over — and give them credit, the field drained pretty well — Javier Assad and Sonny Gray matched zeroes for two innings.
If I looked back at recaps from this season, I’d bet I’ve written that “matched zeroes” for the two starting pitchers probably a couple dozen times. Cubs starters have generally done quite well this year. Even with some recent struggles, Cubs starting pitchers have a 3.48 ERA, which ranks third among NL teams and seventh overall.
The scoreless tie was broken up in the bottom of the third on the first of Goldschmidt’s pair of two-run homers.
That seemed possible to overcome, but when Goldschmidt did it again in the fifth off Assad, I figured the game was over. The Cubs offense putting up four or more runs in the four innings remaining seemed an impossible task.
Credit to Drew Smyly (two scoreless innings) and Porter Hodge (one scoreless inning, two strikeouts) for at least not allowing any more Cardinals runs. About Hodge:
So far in his MLB career, Hodge hasn’t walked anyone. That was an issue for him in the minor leagues. Craig Counsell gave him a relatively high-leverage inning in this game. If Hodge continues to not walk people, he’ll get more chances like that.
The game went to the ninth with that score, thanks to the aforementioned good relief work. At one point ESPN’s Karl Ravech said that the Cubs bullpen had been a “strength for them” this year and I wondered, “What games have THEY been watching?”
Well. As noted, the Cubs had shown they could hit Helsley and they continued to do so. Dansby Swanson hit a line drive, but right at Nolan Arenado, and Michael Busch struck out. But Nick Madrigal batted for Yan Gomes and singled, and Mike Tauchman singled Madrigal to third. Tying run 90 feet away! Could it be….?
First, I want to say some things about Happ. If you’re reading this site you have undoubtedly been following the Cubs for a long time. You should, then, know that Happ’s career has been filled with long stretches when he doesn’t hit much at all, followed by long hot streaks. His last five games: .400/.471/1.000 (6-for-15), three doubles, two home runs. I’m thinking one of those long hot streaks might be starting. The Cubs could certainly use that.
One other thing I’d like to mention is that maybe it’s time for the Cubs to move on from Yan Gomes. Right now he’s hitting significantly worse (.440 OPS in 25 games) than Tucker Barnhart did for the Cubs last year (.541 OPS in 41 games). Further, Gomes struck out twice in this game on pitches that were not caught by Cardinals catcher Ivan Herrera — but Gomes did not run toward first base either time. Now, was he likely to be safe? Of course not, but… you have to at least run, I think.
The Cubs have a catching problem in general. Gomes and Miguel Amaya have combined for a .484 OPS, 29th in MLB, better than only the Marlins (.431). They have been terrible at throwing out base stealers, catching only seven in 49 attempts. Gomes had a nice year in 2023, but he is 36 and things seem to have gone south in a big hurry. If the Cubs still intend to contend — and they remain just 3½ games out of first place with two-thirds of the season remaining — they’re going to have to acquire a catcher.
And one last comment: In the fourth inning, with Nico Hoerner on first and Cody Bellinger on second and one out, Bellinger got picked off. Then this happened:
