Chicago Cubs Comeback to Beat Cardinals 6-4: Recap, Highlights and More

Kyle Schwarber’s long home run helps the Chicago Cubs come back and beat the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday afternoon.

The Chicago Cubs were able to take care of business on Thursday afternoon, taking down the St. Louis Cardinals by a score of 6-4. After dropping the opener, the Cubs were able to take the last two games of this opening season series.

Things did not start off great for the Cubs in this one, as the Cardinals scored three runs off of John Lackey in the first inning. Lackey almost got out of his first inning jam, getting a groundball with one out and runners on first and third. The groundball to shortstop Addison Russell should have ended the inning, but costly Ben Zobrist error allowed the Cardinals to score the first run and kept the inning alive.

Immediately following the Zobrist error, Matt Adams and Randal Grichuk hit back-to-back RBI single, making the score 3-0.

The Cubs were able to scratch a run across in the fifth inning on a Jon Jay single scoring Jason Heyward. However, Kris Bryant flew out to right center to end the inning with the bases loaded. They missed a big opportunity there.

However, Cubs leadoff slugger Kyle Schwarber was able to give the Cubs a lead in the seventh inning with a big three-run home run to right field. Schwarber’s big blast gave the Cubs a 5-4 lead and they added an insurance run later in the inning on a Russell RBI groundout.

Hector Rondon pitched a quick and perfect seventh inning to hold the lead. Rondon struggled late last season and in Spring Training. It was great to see him nail it down in his first appearance of the season. Pedro Strop ran into a bit of trouble in the eighth inning, but Joe Maddon brought Carl Edwards Jr. on to finish the job. Edwards struck out Grichuk and Jedd Gyorko with runners on first and second to end the inning.

Cubs closer Wade Davis gave up a leadoff double to Kolten Wong in the ninth, but was able to work around it for a scoreless ninth to pick up the save. John Lackey picked up the win in this game, while Cardinals reliever Brett Cecil, he gave up the Schwarber bomb, took the loss.

Highlights

https://twitter.com/AldoSoto21/status/850068832274305024

Three Stars

Kyle Schwarber: 1-4, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 BB

His seventh-inning blast was the difference in this game. Schwarber’s other at-bats were not ideal (except for his walk), but he is an explosive offensive player who proved his worth in this one.

John Lackey: 6 IP, 4, 3 ER, 6 H, 7 K, 2 BB

Lackey was not perfect but if Zobrist would not have made that first inning error, his line would look much better. He was strong and consistent and kept the Cubs in the ballgame. if this is the John Lackey that the Cubs get all season, they will be in good shape. Lackey also went 2-2 at the plate.

Jason Heyward: 2-4, 1 R

The hits haven’t exactly been rockets, but Heyward is finding holes in the defense. Him getting two hits in this game is great to see and worthy of an inclusion here. As always, he played great defense in right field.

Next: Bold Predictions for 2017 Cubs

Next Game

The Chicago Cubs will now travel to take on the Milwaukee Brewers in Wisconsin. Brett Anderson will make his Cubs debut on Friday against the Brewers and he will be opposed by Jimmy Nelson. The first pitch is at 7:10 pm CT.

The Cardinals will now host the Cincinnati Reds for a three-game weekend set.