WRIGLEY FIELD- The Cubs were swept out of Busch stadium by the St. Louis Cardinals last weekend. They're looking to return the favor with the broom this weekend at The Friendly Confines. After a 3-1 win Friday afternoon, they took care of the Cards 9-4 in comeback fashion in front of 41,005 Saturday night. Two games down...one to go!
FINAL SCORE- Cubs 9 STL 4
SUMMARY- It got ugly for #TheACE Jon Lester in the top of 1 giving up a 4 piece spicy on a 3 run HR from Marvel Ozuna & a solo HR from Josh Bader to give them a 4-0 lead. The Cubs erased the deficit by the bottom of the 4th. #ELMago Javy Baez' fielders choice RBI scored #BamBam Kyle Schwarber & an #ILLWILL Willson Contreras RBI single scored #TheNatural Kris Bryant to cut the Cards lead to 4-2 in the bottom of 1. They scored another in the bottom of 3 as #RAKINGSEASON continued for #ELMago with an RBI triple that scored #BigFolks Anthony Rizzo to make it a 1 run game. Schwarbs tied the game at 4 in the bottom of 4 with a solo BOMB in an outstanding 11 pitch at bat. After a #JHey Jason Heyward single, a #NewMoney David Bote walk & an #ALJr Albert Almora single...#VC Victor Caratini cleared the bases with pinch hit 3 RBI double in the bottom of 6 to give the Cubs a 7-4 edge. They added 1 more in the inning as Caratini scored on a Schwarbs RBI single to make it 8-4. An Addison Russell pinch hit sac fly RBI scored Bote in the bottom of 7 to extend the Cubs lead to 9-4.
Jon Lester notched his 5th win of the season going 6 innings giving up 5 hits & 4 runs while walking 2 & striking out 6. He settled down after the huge Cards first & blanked them for the next 5! "That first inning mentally just got away from me. I was able to make the adjustment and get thru 6 and give out guys a chance," he said.
"Didn't matter after that first inning...that's classic Jon not giving in," said Kyle Schwarber who was 2-4 with 2 runs scored & 2 RBI. "There's no quit here. We know with a couple of swings of the bat we're right back in the game."
The bullpen held down their end of the bargain in relief of Lester as Kyle Ryan, Brandon Kintzler & Tyler Chatwood held the Cardinals offense hitless.
Manager Joe Maddon was impressed with his hitters approach at the plate. "There was a lot of great situational hitting going on today and that's when we're at our best."
PLAYER(S) OF THE GAME- Victor Caratini...his pinch hit bases clearing 3 RBI double in the bottom of 6 gave the Cubs a 7-4 lead.
PLAY OF THE GAME- Kyle Schwarber's 11 pitch AB ending in a game tying solo HR in the bottom of 4.
QUOTE OF THE GAME- "This place is awesome. Night in and night out they cheer us on. It's called The Friendly Confines for a reason. It's a fun place to play." - Jon Lester on the fans at Wrigley
NEXT GAME- 6/9/19 v STL
#PoetryInMotion Kyle Hendricks (6-4) v Adam Wainwright (5-5)
#ColeWorld Cole Hamels has a 0.41 ERA (1 earned run in 22 innings) in 3 starts against the Cardinals as a Cub.