The St. Louis Cardinals’ struggles continued on Monday night as they opened their series against the Chicago Cubs with a disappointing 7-3 defeat at Busch Stadium. Hoping to halt their recent slump, the Cardinals instead found themselves overpowered by an aggressive Cubs lineup led by Alex Bregman and Nico Hoerner, who each launched home runs to fuel Chicago’s offense.
St. Louis entered the contest with a unique pitching strategy, starting left-hander Matthew Liberatore before planning to hand the ball over to Hunter Dobbins midway through the game. Meanwhile, Cubs starter David Peterson, whom the Cardinals had hit effectively in a previous meeting, looked like a completely different pitcher this time around. Peterson kept the Cardinals’ offense quiet for most of the evening, allowing very few scoring opportunities.
Chicago wasted little time getting on the scoreboard. In the opening inning, Liberatore walked Pete Crow-Armstrong but quickly erased him by picking him off first base, drawing cheers from the Busch Stadium crowd. The celebration was short-lived, however, as Seiya Suzuki and Alex Bregman followed with back-to-back doubles, giving the Cubs an early 1-0 advantage.
The Cubs continued to apply pressure in the second inning. Nico Hoerner opened the frame with a single before Dansby Swanson joined him on the bases after Ian Happ struck out. Miguel Amaya then lined a base hit into right field, bringing Hoerner home to extend Chicago’s lead to 2-0.
St. Louis responded in the bottom half of the inning thanks to José Fermín. The infielder energized the home crowd by crushing a towering 407-foot solo home run into Big Mac Land, trimming the deficit to 2-1 and briefly giving the Cardinals some momentum.
Any hope of building on that rally disappeared quickly in the third inning. Alex Bregman answered immediately by driving a 94-mph sinker from Liberatore into the right-field seats for a solo homer, restoring Chicago’s two-run cushion at 3-1. The blast highlighted what was becoming an increasingly difficult outing for Liberatore, who struggled to keep Cubs hitters off balance throughout his three innings of work.
Hunter Dobbins entered in relief during the fourth inning and escaped a jam left behind by Liberatore. However, he ran into trouble an inning later. Consecutive singles from Bregman and Carson Kelly set the table before Nico Hoerner delivered another clutch hit, lining a two-run single that scored both runners and pushed Chicago’s advantage to 5-1.
The Cardinals finally mounted another offensive push in the sixth inning. Jordan Walker worked a leadoff walk to spark the rally, though confusion followed when Iván Herrera struck out after umpires ruled he had requested two timeouts, resulting in an automatic strike. Despite the controversial sequence, St. Louis stayed focused.
Alec Burleson’s groundout advanced Walker to second before Masyn Winn singled him home, cutting the Cubs’ lead to 5-2. Moments later, Bryan Torres lined a ground-rule double that scored Winn after a wild pitch had moved him into scoring position, bringing the Cardinals within two runs at 5-3 and giving the home fans renewed hope.
St. Louis had opportunities to get even but couldn’t capitalize. In the seventh inning, Blaze Jordan earned a rare walk, setting up Jordan Walker with a chance to tie the game. Walker drove the ball deep to left field, but Ian Happ made an excellent catch against the wall to preserve Chicago’s lead.
The frustration continued in the eighth when Iván Herrera opened the inning by smashing a ball off the right-field wall. Attempting to stretch the hit into a double, Herrera was thrown out by Happ, eliminating another promising scoring chance for the Cardinals.
The Cubs sealed the victory in the ninth inning. After Alex Bregman doubled with two outs, Nico Hoerner delivered the knockout punch by launching an 80-mph sweeper 382 feet into the left-field stands for a two-run homer. The blast extended Chicago’s lead to 7-3 and erased any remaining hopes of a Cardinals comeback.
With the loss, St. Louis remained mired in its recent struggles, while the Cubs continued to capitalize on timely hitting and strong pitching. Chicago received multi-hit performances from several key contributors, with Bregman and Hoerner combining for a dominant offensive showing that proved too much for the Cardinals to overcome.
The two NL Central rivals will meet again Tuesday night at Busch Stadium. The Cubs are expected to send Colin Rea to the mound, while the Cardinals had not yet announced their starting pitcher as they look to even the series and finally snap their recent skid.
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