Cubs stumble in finale against Cardinals
Paul Goldschmidt slugged his 32nd and 33rd homers to highlight a 5-RBI performance, Corey Dickerson set a franchise record for consecutive hits and the St. Louis Cardinals rolled to an 8-3 win Thursday over the Cubs at Wrigley Field.
The Cubs (54-71) lost for the fourth time in six games.
Goldschmidt, Dickerson and Tommy Edman collected 3 hits apiece as the NL Central-leading Cardinals (72-53) won for the 10th time in their last 12 games and concluded a 6-2 trip.
The Cardinals collected 16 hits even without slugger Nolan Arenado, who returned to St. Louis to attend the birth of his first child. But that was plenty of support for Dakota Hudson (7-6), who pitched a season-high seven innings of 5-hit ball.
Neither Albert Pujols nor Yadier Molina were in the lineup in their final visit to Wrigley Field for the season.
Pujols, 42, an 11-time All-Star who ranks fifth with 693 career home runs, and Molina, 40, who has nine Gold Glove Awards for his catching excellence, were presented with Wrigley scoreboard panels with their numbers in a pregame ceremony.
The Cardinals collected 11 hits off Cubs starter Marcus Stroman (3-6), one more than Stroman surrendered against them on June 3.
"It looked like it just took (Stroman) a minute to get going, and I don't think he found that rhythm out of the stretch," Cubs manager David Ross said. "He was in (the stretch) a lot. They were jumping on him early in the count sometimes."
Goldschmidt hit a 2-run single in the fourth off Stroman before smacking a solo shot that landed near the top of the left-field bleachers off Sean Newcomb in the sixth and hitting a 2-run shot in the eighth off Kervin Castro.
Goldschmidt increased his season RBI total to 105, and this marked the third time this season he had a multihomer game and the 23rd time in his career. Goldschmidt leads the NL in batting average (.339) and RBIs and is second to Kyle Schwarber of the Phillies (35) in home runs.
Ian Happ provided the bulk of the Cubs' offense, hitting a double and scoring on a throwing error by Edman in the second. He followed with an RBI single in the third. Happ also hit a double that eluded Cardinals right fielder Lars Nootbaar to score Nico Hoerner in the eighth off Packy Naughton.
Defensively, Happ leapt into the ivy-covered wall to rob extra bases hits from Nolan Gorman in the third and Tyler O'Neill in the seventh.
Before the game, Cubs' President of Business Operations Jed Hoyer said the team expects that three or four players won't travel to Toronto for a three-game series starting Monday,
Canada's government states that all visitors must be vaccinated in order to enter the country.
"You want to play at full strength all the time, but we have to make certain decisions in order to make sure we're able to fill out a roster and be competitive up there," Hoyer said. "It's not something we look forward to. It's not idea. But it's also baseball in 2022 when you go to Toronto."
Hoyer said the names of the players will be disclosed Sunday in Milwaukee.
Injury updates:
Catcher Willson Contreras (sore left ankle) missed his third consecutive start but is expected to return as soon as Friday.
Right-handed pitcher Adbert Alzolay (right shoulder strain) was scheduled to throw a bullpen session Thursday at Triple-A Iowa.
Right-handed pitcher Manny Rodriguez (right elbow strain) is scheduled to pitch this weekend for Iowa. Rodriguez has struck out five in his last two outings for Iowa.