A pinch-hitting Yohel Pozo belted a three-run home run out of Wrigley Field to lift the St Louis Cardinals to an 8-6 win Saturday, July 5 over the Chicago Cubs.
Pozo’s full-count home run came with one out in the eighth and capped a five-run inning that also saw Alec Burleson launch one over the ivy and Nolan Gorman tie the game with a single that scored Thomas Saggese. It was Saggese who put the Cardinals on the board first with a two-run single in the first, with Saggese advancing to second on a fielding error. The Cubs got their first run in the bottom of the second with Michael Busch’s 18th home run of the year. Gorman responded with a home run of his own in the top of the fourth, only for the Cubs’ Ian Happ to bring home a run with a groundout in the bottom half of the inning.
The Cubs claimed the lead in the sixth, when after Nico Hoerner singled in the tying run, a wild pitch from reliever Kyle Leahy brought in the go-ahead run. Carson Kelly added to the hosts’ lead with a solo home run in the seventh. The Cubs would pull a run back in the bottom of the eighth when Seiya Suzuki doubled home Kyle Tucker.
Both starters had no-decisions, with Drew Pomeranz only getting a strikeout in the first while allowing two walks and a single, ultimately yielding two runs. Matthew Liberatore went five innings and allowed two runs on four hits and four walks while fanning four. Leahy ended up with the blown save, only recording one out while throwing two wild pitches along with his two runs on three hits. The win went to Steven Matz, who went 1.2 innings with one run on one hit and two walks while striking out three. Ryan Helsey also recorded a strikeout in his scoreless ninth to earn his 17th save of the season. Brad Keller took the loss for Chicago as well as his third blown save of the year.
The Cardinals improve to 48-42, third in the NL Central with a 5.5 game deficit to the Cubs. They’re also in a tie for the third wild card spot with San Diego and San Francisco, with the Padres having two games in hand. It’s a late afternoon start from Wrigley on Sunday when Erich Fedde takes the mound for the Cardinals. First pitch is at 5:10 p.m.