CHICAGO – If anything lingers from this season finale weekend at Wrigley Field it will be the intentional walk heard ‘round Wrigleyville.
In one last snarky wink between rivals, the Cardinals kept Cubs leadoff hitter Michael Busch from taking a swing at a cycle Saturday afternoon when they intentionally walked him in the top of the eighth inning. Busch had two homers, a triple, and a double already in the game, and the Cubs held a hearty four-run lead. The inning was inching closer to giving Busch a shot at his single and the cycle, and that was when Dansby Swanson stole third base.
The Cardinals’ response was to rob Busch of the chance.
Wrigley shook and echoed with boos from the crowd of 38,035 as Busch dropped his bat and trotted to first. There was fuming in the Cubs’ dugout.
There wasn’t a flinch from the Cardinals’ side.
It was a notable finish with a lingering aftertaste for the Cubs’ 7-3 victory. For the second time in as many days, the Cubs hit four home runs against the Cardinals. Busch reached base five times, finished the game with three RBIs, and hit four extra-base hits. Three of them, including his two homers, came against Cardinals starter Michael McGreevy.
The Cardinals got the tying run to the plate in the ninth before the Cubs ended the game with a bases-loaded strikeout for Nathan Church. The win clinched home-field advantage against San Diego in the first round of the playoffs for the Cubs.
The Cardinals’ season ends Sunday.
Sendoff for Arenado?
Playing in what he has said is likely to be his final weekend with the Cardinals, Nolan Arenado had a fitting moment at Wrigley Field, and if he wanted a souvenir from it. The fans did their part to toss it back onto the field of play.
With the Cardinals trailing only by Busch’s leadoff homer, Arenado tied the score with a solo homer in the fourth inning. Arenado drove a pitch from Jameson Taillon into the left-field bleachers for a 1-1 game and his 12th homer of the season.
In his week back from the injured list, Arenado has been able show a livelier swing and harder contact. He lined a single in his first at-bat Saturday, followed that with a home run, and scorched a grounder that left his bat at 100 mph later in the game. The home run was his second since returning from the IL.
The tie game held for an inning – until Busch’s next at-bat.
McGreevy’s finishing touches
A year after he finished the season with a start to give the Cardinals something to think about for their future planning, McGreevy made his final start of a season that assured he’s a prominent part of that future.
In his 16th start of the season, McGreevy held the Cubs mostly in check with the exception of Busch.
The leadoff hitter, more than anything, kept McGreevy from pitching deeper into the game. Two times through the Cubs’ lineup, and the only runner to score against McGreevy was Busch on his solo homer, and the Cubs had only four other baserunners. McGreevy sidestepped any of the rallies those runners could have created. He struck out Ian Happ twice and sped through the middle of the Cubs’ order to get a tie game into the fifth.
He did not see the end of that inning.
For only the second time in his past 11 starts, McGreevy did not pitch at least five innings. He allowed three runs on six hits, and all three of the runs came as a result of swings by Busch. McGreevy was lifted in the middle of the fifth to get a better matchup with lefty reliever John King against left-handed-batter Kyle Tucker.
McGreevy ends his rookie year with a 4.42 ERA in 95 2/3 innings.
Busch bash
The trouble the Cardinals have with the Cubs player that shares a name with Busch Stadium, is pretty much that – keeping the other Busch in the stadium.
Cubs leadoff hitter Busch entered Saturday’s game with a slugging percentage greater than 1.000, and that was before he hit two home runs, doubled, and then also tripled. With 13 total bases in his first three swings of the game Saturday, Busch upped his slugging percentage to 1.222 in his first 45 career at-bats against the Cubs’ archrivals. He’s batting .467 against the Cardinals.
The only player named Busch to ever hit a home run at any of the three Busch stadiums in St. Louis, the Cubs’ Busch has nine homers against the Cardinals.
He collected his third career multi-homer game Saturday.
It was his second against the Cardinals.
And he did not wait long to get started.
Fresh off a home run and double in the Cubs’ 12-1 victory Friday evening, Busch hit the first pitch in the bottom of the first inning for a leadoff homer.
McGreevy started his day with a cutter, and it ended up in the Wrigley bleachers for Busch’s 33rd home run of the season. Two innings later, McGreevy fell behind in the count, 2-0, to Busch and still was able to claw back into the at-bat with a series fastballs. Busch fouled off a full-count sweeper, a full-count sinker, and a foul-count four-seam fastball that left McGreevy’s fingers at 93.9 mph. For the ninth pitch of the at-bat, McGreevy turned to the curve.
Busch socked it for a double.
In the fifth inning, there would be no belabored at-bat.
McGreevy started with a fastball.
Busch planted it in the bleachers for a two-run homer that pushed the Cubs lead out to 3-1. Busch’s 34th home run of the season came one pitch after the Cardinals came a step short of clearing the bases with a double play.
Walker launches, then lunges
The swing that got the Cardinals back in the game was followed in the same inning by the attempt to keep Busch from another extra-base hit that proved costly.
Jordan Walker, who peppered the bleachers with souvenirs during batting practice Friday afternoon at Wrigley Field, connected to give the fans one during a game, too.
(The Wrigley faithful dutifully threw it back.)
With teammate Jimmy Crooks slipping a two-out single to right field, Walker took his crack at cutting into the Cubs’ lead in the seventh inning. The right-handed-hitting Walker took a curveball for a strike from lefty Caleb Thielbar and then took the same curveball deep when Thielbar tried to spin it again. Walker’s sixth homer of the season left his bat at 104.7 mph and traveled an estimated 411 feet. It went even further in the scoreboard.
What was a three-run deficit for the Cardinals thanks to three home runs hit by the Cubs had suddenly shriveled to one run – and within reach.
That didn’t last because of a hard shot to right-center that was also in reach.
The Cardinals brought Matt Svanson into the game to face Busch with a runner on base in the bottom of the seventh inning. Seeking his third homer of the game, Busch instead ripped a ball to right-center field. The sharp liner skipped on the grass and Walker made a lunging play to cut it off and hold Busch possibly to a single – and maybe save the run. The ball skipped under Walker’s legs and to the wall where a teammate had to retrieve it.
Ruled a triple, the RBI regained the Cubs’ two-run lead.
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Derrick Goold | Post-Dispatch
Lead baseball writer
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