Coming into Tuesday night's game, the St. Louis Cardinals needed their two best players to get on track. Outfielder Matt Holliday had struggled at the plate this season and starter Adam Wainwright had yet to show that he had regained his Cy Young caliber form after coming off of Tommy John surgery last spring.
The Cardinals stars did their jobs as Holliday hit a two run home run in the eighth inning to give the Cardinals a 2-1 lead at the time while Wainwright tossed six gutsy innings of one run baseball.
Yet despite the efforts by the stars, the Cardinals dropped a second consecutive game to the Chicago Cubs thanks to a blown save in the ninth inning as the Cubs beat the Cardinals 3-2 in ten innings.
One night after Cardinals closer Jason Motte blew his first save of the season, Cardinals manager Mike Matheny chose to go with left-handed reliever Marc Rzepczynski to face Cubs left-handed hitting first baseman Bryan LaHair. After cruising through the eighth inning it took just one pitch from Rzepczynski to LaHair for the game to be tied as the slugger bombed a hanging slider to the opposite field, all with Motte warming up in the bullpen.
The Cardinals eventually lost in the tenth inning after an Alfonso Soriano single off the glove of second baseman Tyler Greene drove in the winning run. Cardinals reliever Fernando Salas turned out to be the tough luck loser.
While the second consecutive blown save might feel like the lead headline from the game, there were also questionable calls made by the umpires that did not go in the Cardinals favor.
In the first inning Cubs outfielder David DeJesus slid past Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina for the Cubs first run despite never touching home plate. It did not look as if Molina tagged the DeJesus either, but DeJesus certainly did not touch home plate as the umpire had ruled.
Then in the tenth inning with the score tied at 2-2, Cubs outfielder Tony Campana attempted to swipe second base and looked to slide into Greene's foot rather than the bag as the tag was applied. Yet, the second base umpire called Campana safe. The play at second base ultimately led to Matheny's first ever ejection as manager of the St. Louis Cardinals.
Despite the unfortunate calls, possible misuse of the bullpen, and wasted effort of Wainwright, the biggest blunder by the Cardinals may have been their inability to capitalize in the top of the ninth inning.
With just a one run lead, Cubs reliever Michael Bowden loaded the bases by allowing a hit and a pair of consecutive walks, bringing up Skip Schumaker. Rather than take a pitch, Schumaker swung at what looked like a high fastball that would have been ball one, setting the tone for the rest of the bat. Schumaker ultimately lined out to shortstop to erase the opportunity.
The Cardinals and Cubs will play the finale of the series at Wrigley on Wednesday afternoon and the Cardinals will send Lance Lynn to the hill to try and salvage the final game of the series.
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