*Photo from US News & World Report*
The Chicago Cubs were off to a tough start in last night's game against their rival, the St.Louis Cardinals. By the time Kris Bryant's grand slam sailed over the center field wall, that tough start was long gone. The Red-Hot Chicago Cubs completed a sweep of the St.Louis Cardinals with a 13-5 win last night.Wilson Contreras, Anthony Rizzo, and David Bote each drove in 2 runs to help the Cubbies leapfrog the Cardinals for the division lead. This is the Cubs' first 3 game sweep of the redbirds since 2017.
Since opening the year with a 3-8 record, the Cubs have soared, winning 16 of 20 to have a 19-12 record. Bryant said after the game that ''We've really turned it around since then, our pitchers have been great. Our at-bats have been great. Defense, everything has really been clicking for us. This is the type of baseball that's super fun to be a part of.'' After Bryant homered in the 8th, the Wrigley field crowd could be heard chanting "Sweep! Sweep! Sweep!"
Paul DeJong and Marcell Ozuna homered for the Cardinals, both in the 9th inning as the Cards lost their 4th straight game. Adam Wainwright allowed 5 runs on 5 hits inn 5+ innings. Wainwright said that ''You have to tip your hat to their hitters for beating me to the spot on a couple of those pitches, they're playing good ball right now." The Cardinals got at least one hit in 7 innings, but stranded 9 runners on base.
Cubs pitcher Jose Quintana got help from his defense all night. In the 1st, Wilson Contreras threw out Paul Goldschmidt trying to steal second base. In the 3rd, Ben Zobrist threw out Matt Carpenter trying to get to third off a Goldschmidt single. In the fourth, Zobrist made a diving catch to take a hit away from Yadier Molina. Manager Joe Maddon said of Zobrist, "He's a good outfielder, he's been a good outfielder for a long time."
Wilson Contreras hit his 9th homer of the year in the second, and Jason Heyward and David Bote each drove in a run in the 5th to make it 3-0 Cubs. In the 6th, Anthony Rizzo doubled home Bryant and Zobrist, and Contreras singled home Javier Baez to make it 6-2 Cubs. In the 7th, Zobrist singled home Albert Almora Jr, and then came the 8th inning. David Bote doubled home Baez, Almora doubled home Bote, and then once the bases became loaded, Kris Bryant launched a grand slam to dead center to put the game away. Miles Mikolas gets the ball for the Cardinals as they open a series against the Philadelphia Philles in St.Louis. Cole Hamels will take the mound for the Cubs as they open up a series against the Miami Marlins tonight at Wrigley.
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