Saturday’s Game Report: Cardinals 3, Cubs 0

By Rob Rains

Neither rain, nor fog, could keep the Cardinals from winning another game against the Cubs on Saturday night at Wrigley Field.

After about a one-hour rain delay before the start of the game, JJ Wetherholt hit the first pitch from Shota Imanaga for a home run and that turned out to be the only run the Cardinals needed for the victory.

Wetherholt continued his success against the Cubs to begin his career with a three-hit night, adding a single and double, and he also reached on a walk. In his first five games against the Cubs, Wetherholt has reached base more times (13) than he has made an outs (10), going 10-of-20 with two walks and a hit by pitch.

Before his last hit in the seventh the game was delayed for several minutes because of fog, which was so thick even Wetherholt, playing second base, and Masyn Winn, at shortstop, were saying they could not see the ball.

Wetherholt’s leadoff homer was the sixth hit by the Cardinals at Wrigley in the last 50 years. Lars Nootbaar also hit the first pitch for a homer at the park on July 22, 2023.

Kyle Leahy (five innings) and four relievers combined for the five-hit shutout after the Cardinals held the Cubs to one run in the opening game of the weekend series on Friday.

Here is how Saturday night’s game broke down:

At the plate: The Cardinals took advantage of back-to-back walks to Nathan Church and Wetherholt to score their second run in the third, with Church scoring on a single by Ivan Herrera … Jordan Walker led off the eighth with a double and scored on a single by Alec Burleson, The RBI was the 63^rd of the season for Burleson, tying him with Walker for the most in the NL … The singles by Herrera and Burleson were their only hits in 12 at-bats with a runner in scoring position … Herrera was hit by a pitch for the 24^th time this season.

On the mound: Leahy allowed just three hits and also pitched around a pair of walks in his scoreless outing. He struck out six and also hit a batter. Leahy has now allowed only one run over 16 1/3 innings in his last three starts … Dansby Swanson made a bid to tie the game off Ryne Stanek in the seventh, just missing a two-run homer when his long drive was caught by Nootbaar at the left field wall … The Cubs put the first two batters in the eighth on base against JoJo Romero with a single and a walk but he came back to retire the next three batters on a groundout and a pair of strikeouts to strand the runners on second and third … Riley O’Brien got a game-ending double play after issuing a walk to earn his 22^nd save.

Key stat: After holding the Cubs to one hit in eight at-bats with a runner in scoring position on Friday, the Cardinals held the Cubs hitless in five at-bats on Saturday night with a runner on second or third.

Worth noting: The Cardinals did not have a player elected to the All-Star game in either the fan or player balloting, but Walker was named to the team on Saturday as a commissioner’s pick, giving them a representative on the roster. He is the youngest position player from the Cardinals to be selected to the game since Albert Pujols in 2004.

Up next: The Cardinals will try to complete a sweep of the series on Sunday. Matthew Liberatore will get the start. First pitch is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. and the game will be televised exclusively by Peacock.

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