Rozner: Cubs turn tables on hapless Cards

With Jake Arrieta pitching Monday at home, the Cubs knew they only had to get one in St. Louis this weekend.

So there was no panic after a tough Game 1 loss. There was no fear of facing the Cardinals again at Busch Stadium. As was the case all season, there was no loss of confidence because of a single defeat.

Nope, it was the Cardinals who fell apart early and the Cubs merely came out and beat St. Louis 6-3 in Game 2 to even the NLDS Saturday night.

And just like that, the Cubs feel like they're up in the series with the hottest pitcher in baseball going for them at Wrigley Field in Game 3.

"Getting Jake pitching the next game is kind of a good thought for us," said manager Joe Maddon with a smile. "You've all seen it. He's been spectacular."

The Cubs have been equal parts resilient and relentless this season, and they showed it again Saturday after a painful, series-opening loss Friday.

St. Louis got on the board first again when Kyle Hendricks hung a 1-2 changeup to the leadoff man and Matt Carpenter blasted it out to straightaway center.

But the Cubs came storming back in the second, and it was the Cardinals who went to pieces in a train wreck of an inning that is uncharacteristic of the fundamentally sound Red Birds.

They made 2 errors and the Cubs scored the first 3 runs without hitting a ball out of the infield, before Jorge Soler capped off a huge inning with a 2-run blast off Jaime Garcia to give the Cubs a 5-1 lead.

The biggest play was Garcia failing to throw home on a squeeze when he would have easily had Austin Jackson at the plate, and then throwing it down the right-field line.

It's as if Garcia forgot he had a runner at third, even though the rest of the infield was prepared for the bunt. It might go down as the Alex Gonzalez moment of the series if the Cubs prevail.

But that's what happens when you put pressure on the defense, and that was a Joe Maddon inning if ever there were one.

"Back-to-back squeezes, that's tough to do," Jackson said. "We got them down in perfect spots and took advantage."

It opened the floodgates to a big Cubs rally and that was it for Garcia, the Cards later announcing he left with a stomach virus. No doubt he had stomach-related issues, looking jittery throughout his 2 innings of work.

"Really, it was fielding. All 5 runs were unearned," said Cards manager Mike Matheny. "We've done a real nice job all season of limiting extra bases and extra outs. It's hard to watch a team that's played so well defensively have a couple things happen."

After giving up a bomb to the first batter he ever faced in the postseason, Hendricks retired the next nine and 14 of the next 15. But Hendricks, who looked like a candidate to be left off the postseason roster before throwing two strong outings to end the season, couldn't make it out of the fifth.

He gave up back-to-back, two-out homers to Kolten Wong and Randal Grichuk as the Cards cut the lead to 6-3.

Soler had a huge day with 2 hits, 2 RBI and 2 walks, but no one came up bigger than Travis Wood, who pitched 2⅓ scoreless innings, allowing just a hit and getting the Cubs to the eighth, when Trevor Cahill pitched a brilliant 1-2-3 inning and closer Hector Rondon finished it off in the ninth.

"I can't be more proud of our guys," Maddon said. "When you win a wild-card game like we did, you settle in after that, and our guys are settled in. We're not overwhelmed by anything."

Just that quickly, the Cubs look to be in firm control of the series, with a chance to clinch at home Tuesday if their ace takes care of business Monday.

But this is the MLB postseason, where the only guarantee is that nothing's guaranteed.

Not even a Jake Arrieta start.

brozner@dailyherald.com

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