Copyright stltoday
Derrick Goold | Post-Dispatch CHICAGO — As they prepare to face the San Diego Padres in the first round of the postseason and still trying to assure they host that best-of-three series, the Cubs put on a show of force Friday with the Cardinals there to wince. A relatively close game when both starting pitchers were in charge mushroomed into an absolute mess for the Cardinals and a 12-1 romp for the hosts at Wrigley Field. The loss assured the Cardinals (78-82) of a losing record, their second in the past three seasons and only their third of the 2000s. The Cubs thundered away against two Cardinals relievers for seven runs in the seventh inning and galloped with the game. They must win one more of the remaining two in the series to secure home-field advantage for the wild-card series against the Padres. In their first game since being mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, the Cardinals underscored what has been true all season — they don’t have the firepower offensively to keep up with a team that’s adding 30-homer sluggers to its lineup. Two Cubs hit their 30th homers of the season Friday. Miles Mikolas allowed four runs on four hits through five innings in what could be his final start in this rivalry series. All of the runs came on home runs, and the Cardinals’ veteran starter became the first visitor to allow nine homers at Wrigley in a season since Hall of Famer Warren Spahn did in 1958. An eventful afternoon offensively for the Cubs was also one laced with milestones. Pete Crow-Armstrong tripled the Cubs’ lead with a two-run homer in the fourth inning and became the first Cubs player with 30 homers, 30 steals, and 30 doubles in the same season. His 30-30 season of home runs and steals is only the third in Cubs history. Three innings later, Seiya Suzuki’s grand slam put him in exclusive company as well. His second career grand slam was the 30th home run of his season, putting him alongside Shohei Ohtani and Hideki Matsui as the only Japan-born players with at least 30 homers in a big-league season. The grand slam also gave Suzuki, the Cubs’ No. 5 hitter, 101 RBIs for the season. The only Japan-born players to have 100 RBI seasons in the majors are Matsui, Ohtani, and now Suzuki. Confines, but not friendly for Mikolas No visiting pitcher has had a more difficult time keeping the baseball in the ballpark than Mikolas this season at Wrigley. In what could be his final start as a Cardinal, Mikolas (8-11) allowed four runs and all of them came via the homer Friday afternoon. The Cubs hit six home runs off the pending free agent in his only other start of the season at Wrigley, giving him nine home runs allowed at the Friendly Confines in 11 innings. That is the most homers allowed at a ballpark this season by a visiting player. It’s also more in two starts than some Cubs who call it home allowed. Still, the homers Mikolas allowed didn’t put the game out of reach for the Cardinals because the veteran right-hander avoided putting runners on freely ahead of them. Nico Hoerner tagged Mikolas for a solo homer and 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. That’s where the score stalled for several innings until Crow-Armstrong’s two-run shot in the fourth. Leadoff hitter Michael Busch added a solo homer off Mikolas in the fifth for a 4-0 lead. That’s what hung on the hand-operated scoreboard when Mikolas walked off the field perhaps the final time wearing the birds on the bat — until, that is, he’s an alumni at the team’s Fantasy Camp in his hometown of Jupiter, Florida. Old friend quells uprising The Cardinals got the tying run to the plate twice in the seventh inning, and there to stop them each time was a familiar face who they often saw pitch for them in the same spot. Andrew Kittredge allowed an RBI single and pitched the entire seventh inning with traffic on base. But when the Cardinals had two swings at prolonging the inning or overtaking the Cubs’ lead, Kittredge and his slider were at their best. Kittredge struck out both Victor Scott II and leadoff hitter Lars Nootbaar to maroon two teammates on base. Jordan Walker cracked the second hit allowed by Kittredge in the inning and broke the Cubs’ shutout by bringing home Nolan Gorman. Gorman, the Cardinals’ starter at second base, doubled to lead off the inning and give him two hits for the game. In came Kittredge for a run of right-handed batters. Thomas Saggese struck for a single, and Walker got the RBI that narrowed the Cubs’ lead to 4-1. It was the left-handed batters then that struggled against Kittredge. The Cubs acquired Kittredge from Baltimore at the trade deadline to fortify the late innings. Kittredge was already in Chicago at the time of the trade and only had to move out of the Orioles’ team hotel. Cubs break game open in 7th The reliever’s line score will do a good job of showing exactly what happened. Gordon Graceffo entered the game with a three-run deficit to hold and it took his 31 pitches before leaving the inning after recording one out. What began with a leadoff walk issued by Graceffo became an avalanche of runs for the Cubs that did not stop until after a grand slam. The Cardinals did not get the second out of the inning until the Cubs’ 10th batter of the inning. The Cubs scored seven runs in the inning, five off of Graceffo, and two of those came after he turned the mound over to right-handed reliever Chris Roycroft. Graceffo struck out a batter for his lone out, but he also allowed an RBI triple to the Cubs’ No. 9 hitter and then an RBI double to leadoff hitter Michael Busch. Graceffo faced six batters. Four got hits. Five reached base. And when Roycroft allowed the grand slam to Suzuki, all five of those Cubs scored. An Illinois native from suburban Chicago, Roycroft also walked the first batter he faced as he tried to tease Kyle Tucker into chasing pitches with two runners on base. The All-Star outfielder waited out the walk to set up Suzuki with the grand slam chance. The Cardinals are still looking for their first grand slam of the season. Roycroft plunked Crow-Armstrong to potentially restart the Cubs rally and assure they batted around in the overwhelming seventh. Roycroft then retired the next two batters. It took him 24 pitches to pilot out of the seventh, meaning the Cardinals used 55 pitches for three outs. Cubs’ 30-30 club gets 2nd member The home run that broke the game open against Mikolas in the fourth inning also launched a young sensation into a Cubs club that previously had only Sammy Sosa as a member. Crow-Armstrong, an All-Star who got MVP buzz in the first half of the season, drilled a two-run homer off Mikolas to moved the Cubs ahead 3-0 before the Cardinals had their second hit of the game. The homer was Crow-Armstrong’s 30th of the season, tripling his previous career high for a season. With 35 steals, he joins Sosa 30-30 club. Sosa was the only Cubs player to previously have a season with 30 homers and 30 steal he first did it in 1993 and then matched the feat again in 1995 after the players’ strike. Crow-Armstrong adds a twist to his membership, though. The 23-year-old center fielder also has 37 doubles this season to make him the first Cub in more than 150 years of history with at least 30 homers, at least 30 doubles, and at least 30 stolen bases in the same season. The Cardinals do not have a 30-30 player. In 1998, Ray Lankford hit 31 homers and stole 26 bases.
