CHICAGO – What Jordan Montgomery’s excellence overshadowed Monday night at Wrigley Field was clear to see under the sunlight of Tuesday afternoon.
The Cardinals’ offense, storming out of a monsoon season sweep in Arizona over the weekend, has so far had the wind knocked out of it by a calm, cool Wrigley Field.
Held to one run on Albert Pujols’ solo homer in the first game of the series, the Cardinals ran their drought without a crooked number to 18 innings with a 2-0 loss in Game 1 of Tuesday’s doubleheader against the Cubs. As starter Adam Wainwright bebopped around four walks and several baserunners, the Cardinals were not lacking for opportunities – they had 11 stranded batters in the first eight innings – just the hits put together a run. Led by rookie right-hander Javier Assad in his major-league debut, the Cubs got a shutout from five different pitchers.
Brandon Hughes closed the game to end the Cardinals’ winning streak.
Montgomery’s first career shutout meant Pujols’ homer in the seventh inning Monday night was enough for a 1-0 win, the Cardinals’ eighth consecutive victory.
The streak could not survive another day without more from the lineup.
Through six innings, the Cardinals’ Nos. 3-9 in the order were a combined one-for-17. The one was Pujols’ leadoff double in fourth inning.
Lars Nootbaar led off the game with a double and got to third on a wild pitch, but he was thrown out at home plate on a grounder back to the first baseman. In the third inning, Assad walked Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado to load the bases for rookie Nolan Gorman. Promoted from the Cubs’ Class AAA team, where he had eight appearances, Assad had success with a sharp cutter that got several late swings, several misses, and set up groundouts like the one he got from Gorman to leave three runners stranded. Pujols’ leadoff double didn’t amount to much as he didn’t get past second when Assad retired the next three batters. Yadier Molina popped a pitch up and in response snapped his bat into shards.
In three different innings the Cardinals stranded at least two runners.
Wainwright completed six innings and provided the Cardinals the quality start to steal sa win with some semblance of offense. He had to navigated around an uncharacteristic four walks and nine baserunners to keep the Cubs to their two runs.
There was some strategy when it came to choosing which of the two games Wainwright would start. But there was also deference and a question.
“Hey, Waino, which one you want?” Marmol said he asked.
Wainwright selected the first game for his 321st start with Yadier Molina at catcher. As a battery, they are three shy of tying the major-league record and they are within weeks of owning the record outright as a duo, surpassing the total set generations ago by Detroit’s Mickey Lolich and Bill Freehan. While Marmol was ready to let the veteran’s preference “trump” his angle, they actually merged.
By having Wainwright start Game 1 of the day, Marmol would have a good feel for how many arms he had available for Game 2. The Cardinals will start right-hander Jake Woodford and have a full complement of long relief options available.
Wainwright getting through six innings was not without challenges to his pitch count. Several innings could have gone sideways and veered the game well out of reach for the Cardinals. The Cubs got the first two runners on base in the second and third innings, and Wainwright invited trouble with two walks in the fourth inning. Two of the three innings he was able to avoid the traps turning into runs. The second opened with a line drive that Nolan Arenado missed at third base for an error. That was followed by a single, and before Wainwright had an out he was dealing with two Cubbies on base. He didn’t let them move. Two fly balls and a six-pitch strikeout ended the inning.
The third began with another two batters reach base.
Throughout the inning, the Cubs were able to slip base hits through the seams of the Cardinals’ defense. Wainwright added to the trouble with a walk, but three singles in the inning put a rally in motion for the Cubs. One run scored on a groundout, and the other on Seiya Suzuki’s RBI single. Suzuki skipped the eight-pitch of his at-bat against Wainwright into center field to give the Cubs the 2-0 lead. He then stole second.
With two runners in scoring position, Wainwright quickly dispatched the next two hitters.
It took three pitches to strike out Cubs designated hitter Franmil Reyes. Wainwright started him with a 72.9-mph curve for a strike, turned then to a sinker that Reyes fouled off, and finished the at-bat with his usual brushstroke: a 74.9-mph curveball that Reyes’ swing could not find. Wainwright stuck out Rafael Ortega on a sinker ot end the inning.
The Cardinals’ right-hander sidestepped two of his four walks in the third inning and earned the chance to slip free of more trouble in the sixth. Another walk and an infield single put two runners on base with two outs. Wainwright got a fly ball with his 106th and final pitch to turn the game over to the bullpen with a two-run deficit.
Game 2 of the Cardinals’ third and final doubleheader scheduled against the Cubs this season begins at 7:05 p.m. St. Louis time at Wrigley.
