Andrew Knizner scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch in the ninth inning, and Paul Goldschmidt and Harrison Bader homered as the visiting St. Louis Cardinals stretched their franchise-record winning streak to 16 games with a 4-2 victory against the Chicago Cubs on Sunday.
The Cardinals (87-69) enter the final week of the regular season six games ahead of the Cincinnati Reds and Philadelphia Phillies in the race for the second National League wild card.
Chicago (67-89) surrendered three runs in the final two innings while losing its sixth straight. The Cubs finished 39-42 at Wrigley Field in 2021.
Giovanny Gallegos overcame two walks and a controversial call in the ninth for his 14th save. With two on and one out, St. Louis third baseman Nolan Arenado stumbled while tracking a Frank Schwindel popup with the infield fly rule in effect. The runners were allowed to advance to second and third, prompting an argument from Cardinals manager Mike Shildt, who was ejected. Gallegos fanned Ian Happ to end the game.
The Cubs led 2-1 with two outs in the eighth, but Bader tied the game with a solo home run against Rowan Wick.
St. Louis then scored a pair of runs against Codi Heuer in the ninth to secure a sweep of the four-game series. Heuer (7-4) gave up two hits and three walks and uncorked a wild pitch to score Knizner before Tyler O’Neill had an RBI groundout to plate an insurance run.
Genesis Cabrera (4-5) was the winner after getting the final two outs of the eighth.
Goldschmidt launched a solo home run to center field in the third inning to open the scoring. The blast was Goldschmidt’s ninth of the month and 31st of the season.
The Cubs took the lead with a pair of runs in the fourth, getting an RBI double from Sergio Alcantara and a sacrifice fly off the bat of David Bote.
Rafael Ortega had two hits for the Cubs. Alcantara’s double was Chicago’s lone extra-base hit.
–Field Level Media