By MATT PIKE
Alex Bregman drove in the go-ahead run with a 10th-inning double, and scored on a double from Ian Happ, leading the Chicago Cubs to a 4-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals in extra innings at Busch Stadium to secure a series win.
Bryan Torres gave the Cardinals the lead at first, singling home Lars Nootbaar with one out in the second inning to give St. Louis a 1-0 lead. The Cubs tied the game though on a throwing error by Nootbaar in the fourth inning. Bregman doubled with one out then Happ hit a fly back to the fence and Bregman tagged and went to third before dashing home when JJ Wetherholt couldn’t catch Nootbaar’s high throw to the infield.
Cardinals starting pitcher Andre Pallante went 6.1 innings, allowing two runs on seven hits while walking two and striking out three. Pallante was lifted after giving up a one-out walk to Dansby Swanson. Michael Busch then hit a 1-2 changeup to left with two outs off reliever George Soriano, driving in Swanson to give the Cubs a 2-1 lead in the seventh inning. In the bottom half of the seventh, a one-out home run from Wetherholt off Caleb Thielbar tied the game back up.
The game remained tied until the 10th inning. Seiya Suzuki started at second base as the courtesy runner and scored on Bregman's double before Bregman scored on the double from Happ both off reliever Luis Gastelum, who fell to 2-2 a day after earning a win against the Cubs, throwing just the one inning. Chicago improved to 9-6 in extra-inning games this season while St. Louis fell to 8-5.
At the plate, Torres was 2-for-4 with an RBI. Wetherholt was 2-for-5 with the home run and an RBI. Six other Cardinals had one hit each on the day, including Jordan Walker, Alec Burleson, and Masyn Winn.
St. Louis will now leave the comforts of Busch Stadium and travel across the border to face the Toronto Blue Jays. Kyle Leahy (7-4, 3.55 ERA, 88K's) makes the start for the Cardinals against Dylan Cease (7-6, 2.46 ERA, 167K's) for the Blue Jays. First pitch is at 6:05pm, coverage starts at 5:55 on KY 102 (102.5 FM).
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