With the Cardinals sending out Adam Wainwright and the Cubs sending out Jeff Samardzija this game figured to be a pitchers duel. One pitcher was dealing and the other got knocked around early.
The Cubs wasted no time in getting to Wainwright who clearly didnt have is best stuff to start the game. After two quick outs to start off his night Wainwright surrendered a two out double to Nate Schierholtz which kept the inning alive. The next batter Alfonso Soriano doubled in Schierholtz to give the Cubs and early 1-0 lead. With Soriano on second Ryan Sweeney rocketed a two run homer to right field to give the Cubs a 3-0 lead. Cody Ransom then preceded to deposit a solo shot into the seats in left to give the Cubs a 4-0 lead, and that proved to be more than enough to get the W. Wainwright settled down not allowing the Cubs to do anymore damage during the six innings he pitched after the first. This was one of the few games this year were the Cubs came out on top when their bats were silent most of the game. Fortunately the Samardzija was up to the task of holding the lead that the Cubs gave him before he even took the mound.
Samrdzija was magnificent throughout the night not allowing the Cards to get into any offensive rhythm. He was baffling cardinal hitters with his sinker and two seamed fastball. However, In the bottom of the sixth the Cards got a run on a Carlos Beltran solo homer to cut the lead to 4-1. That was one of the few blemishes on an other wise great outing from The Shark. Jeff was looking good so Dale decided to run him out there for the start of the ninth inning.
Things got a little dicey in the bottom of the ninth when Samardizija allowed two runners to reach. Jeff’s pitch count was over 110 so it was a wise move by Dale to take him out, also Dale didn’t want his great outing to be spoiled by one bad inning. Svuem took Samardzija out in favor of closer Kevin Gregg. Gregg came in with runners on first and second one out. Yadier Molina singled in Matt Holliday to cut the lead to 4-2 with the winning run stepping to the plate in the form of David Freese. Gregg however did his job and got Freese to ground into a game ending double play preserving the W for Samardzija who arguably pitched his best game of the year.
The Cubs will look to build off of this strong performance tomorrow as they will face Jake Westbrook (2-2, 2.05 ERA) of the Red Birds. The Cubs will send out Edwin Jackson (3-8, 5.40 ERA) who is looking to take success from his last start into this start. First pitch is scheduled for 7:15 pm central time.
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