By Chris Brown / STL Baseball Today | @cbrown_STLBBT | Oct. 12, 2015, 8:58 pm CT
Image via Major League Baseball on Twitter
The St. Louis Cardinals pitching staff allowed the second fewest home runs in the majors during the 2015 regular season, never surrendering more than four in a game. On Tuesday night, the Chicago Cubs put on a power show, with rookies Kris Bryant, Jorge Soler, and Kyle Schwarber blasting half of Chicago’s six home runs en route to a 6-4 victory in the best-of-five National League Division Series.
With the wind blowing out at Wrigley Field, the top two-thirds of the Cubs batting order connected for a home run, making Chicago the first team ever to hit six home runs in a postseason game. Combined with Cardinals blasts for Jason Heyward and Stephen Piscotty, the eight total home runs hit in the game set a new postseason MLB record.
The Cubs are now just one win away from advancing to the National League Championship Series, while the Cardinals will need to take two straight games to keep their season alive. Game 4 of the NLDS is scheduled for Tuesday at 3:30 pm central time.
Headed into Monday’s contest, the main storyline surrounded the dominant run of Cubs starter Jake Arrieta, whose 0.41 ERA over the final two months of the regular season was the lowest by any pitcher since ERA became a measured statistic back in 1912.
The 29-year-old, who had surrendered just four total runs since July 25, had his consecutive scoreless innings streak snapped at 34 innings when he coughed up a pair of runs in the fourth inning. Jason Heyward added a two-run homer off of Arieta in the sixth inning, ending the right-hander’s day in what was his shortest outing since June 16.
Awesome tidbit from @ESPNStatsInfo – Jake Arrieta tonight: 4 ER in 97 pitches. Arrieta before tonight: 4 ER in his previous 1,393 pitches!
— Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) October 13, 2015
Stephen Piscotty would add a two-run homer in the ninth inning to bring the redbirds within two runs, but the eight surrendered by Cardinals pitchers would prove too much to overcome.
After giving up a solo shot to Kyle Schwarber in the second inning, Cards starter Michael Wacha, who gave up 21 earned runs over 24 innings in the month of September (7.88 ERA), danced in and out of trouble the next few innings, with Starlin Castro taking him deep for a solo blast.
Manager Mike Matheny elected to send Wacha out for what would be a disastrous fifth frame. The right-hander quickly allowed a single to Jorge Soler before giving up a towering shot to third baseman Kris Bryant.
One batter later, Kevin Siegrist came in and allowed a mammoth home run to Anythony Rizzo, bring the score to 5-2.
After Heyward’s two-run home run in the top of the sixth, the Cubs responded with three more runs of their own. Jorge Soler sent the first pitch he saw from Adam Wainwright into the seats with a runner on, and Dexter Fowler tacked on another run with a homer in the eighth inning.
When the smoke cleared, the Cubs were just one victory away from winning their first ever postseason series at home, while the Cardinals have their backs up against the wall, with their season hanging in the balance.
The Northsiders will send right-hander Jason Hammel (10-7, 3.74 ERA) to the mound for the potential series clincher, while the Cardinals will counter with Game 1 starter John Lackey (13-10, 2.77 ERA), who Matheny announced as his Game 4 starter after the contest.
Latest STL Baseball Today NLDS Coverage
Video Reactions: Cardinals discuss Game 3 loss to Cubs, look ahead to Game 4
Next Up: John Lackey named Game 4 starter as Cards look to keep season alive
Injury Report: Molina questionable for Game 4 after re-aggravating thumb injury
Follow @STLBBToday on Twitter
