CHICAGO — As a younger player, Nolan Arenado would climb out of the dugout at Wrigley Field for morning batting practice and take a peek at the flags that rise high above and ring around the Windy City’s oldest ballpark. It’s a tradition as old as the ivy: Trying to figure out what direction the game might swirl for hitters.
Arenado stopped doing so because winds change — baseballs carried by the gusts onto Waveland Avenue in the morning might hit a blowback by the afternoon.
His interest in the wind shifted from being in the field, not at the plate.
“If anything, you know when it’s blowing in there are going to be some weird fly balls and pop flies,†he said. “It’s going to get weird. It’s a little trippy for sure as a fielder.â€
It can be beneficial as a hitter.
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With the Cardinals’ lineup unable to generate much for nearly two days against the host Cubs, Arenado lifted a fly ball into that wily Wrigley wind in the eighth inning Saturday. Two Cubs called for the ball. A gust caught it. They did not. Arenado’s high, slicing fly ball dropped in between the fielders and allowed two runs to score, adding a breeze to a stagnant offense and setting up a ninth-inning winner. Tommy Pham tripled, and Lars Nootbaar brought him home with a sacrifice fly for a 5-4 comeback victory against the Cubs that Ryan Helsley secured with a perfect ninth.
The Cardinals scored four runs in the final two innings, and the Cubs, putting the friendly in confines, had plays that led to all four of them.
“This game is never going to even out,†Pham said. “You have to hit the ball hard a fair amount of times to get your hits. It’s nice to be on the other side of it — that little flare double or a miscommunication hit. Those are always nice. … It’s always a good feeling when the game rewards you for your grind. When it rewards you in that way, it’s euphoric.â€
After being traded back to the Cardinals this past week, Pham, like any hitter looking for clues in the flags for the day ahead, took a gander at the standings. He wanted to see how far back the Cardinals were in the National League Central (5 1/2 games) and how many games they had remaining against first-place Milwaukee (six). Any move out of the Chicago White Sox clubhouse was going to get Pham closer to the postseason, but how close — what direction were the trends blowing for the Cardinals?
The Cardinals trailed 4-1 going into the eighth inning Saturday, and a loss would have cost them the series and put them in a bind Sunday. A sweep by the Cubs would have sent the Cardinals (57-54) home at .500 and within reach of the bottom of the division. Pham had the standings but didn’t need them to forecast what a weekend like that would mean. He changed the look of it when he lined a triple past Ian Happ’s glove and into the left-field ivy and scored easily on the flyout.
“The season is winding down,†said Pham, who is 8 for 15 (.533) since the trade. “Looking at the standings and it’s looking like you’re probably going to need 86 wins to get in. We have a lot of teams that are really good ahead of us. We’re going to have to win about 30 games to even stand a chance. We need to catch some streaks.â€
Catching a break when the Cubs cannot catch a flyball is a start.
The Cubs made every effort to goose the Cardinals offense Friday with three bases-loaded walks. On Saturday, the Cubs jumped starter Kyle Gibson for four runs on two swings. Gibson walked the first batter he faced and then misplaced a pitch to Michael Busch that he launched into the wind and into the seats. Busch’s two-run shot reversed the lead claimed in the first inning by Alec Burleson’s solo homer. In the second, the Cubs extended their lead when Pete Crow-Armstrong tripled into the corner for an RBI and then scored on a squeeze bunt.
Gibson held firm from there, pitching through the seventh inning and retiring 17 of the final 19 Cubs he faced.
The offense just couldn’t reward him with anything against Cubs’ right-hander Jameson Taillon. He balked in the fourth to move two Cardinals into scoring position, only to unplug the rally from there. Two more Cardinals reached base in the sixth inning — but the inning ended with Arenado’s lineout to second. When Paul Goldschmidt laced a pitch that left his bat at 101.6 mph for a lineout in the eighth inning, the Cardinals fell to 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position on Saturday, 1 for 19 in the series.
A walk and a hit batter had given the Cardinals two baserunners, and there they were about to politely decline such gifts from the Cubs again.
The Cubs weren’t done.
Brendan Donovan chopped a grounder he would have legged out for a single, but third baseman Isaac Paredes rushed his throw and sent it wide to allow a run to score. The next batter, Arenado, skied the ball to shallow center. Second baseman Nico Hoerner called for it and had the best angle on it, but as the ball began slicing back center fielder Crow-Armstrong called for it. Cardinals first baseman coach Stubby Clapp began shouting: “Trouble. Trouble. Trouble.â€
And it was.
Crow-Armstrong slid into the picture to make the catch and did not. That allowed Burleson and Willson Contreras to score for a 4-4 game.
“They did a really nice job scratching out runs,†Gibson said. “Doesn’t matter how you get them. … There are times when our guys are frustrated because they haven’t been able to get certain hits here over the last maybe eight- or 10-game stretch. They feel they’ve had chances and maybe haven’t been able to cash in. When you build an inning, you take advantage of a throwing mistake. I told Nolan sometimes you just have got to put the ball in play and take advantage of little bloops, you know? It’s good to have those go our way.â€
Arenado could recall each of the at-bats when it didn’t.
With the bases loaded and a chance to upend Friday’s game, Arenado reached for a pitch and flew out to left. On Saturday, he lined out with two on. He had left five runners on base despite feeling like he was swinging with more authority, pulling more line drives.
“This year, thus far, hasn’t gone the way I would like, but we still have two months left,†Arenado said. “I still feel like I’m making strides. It’s a matter of it clicking the way it can. I feel closer than ever. Regardless if that happens or not, I still have got to help this team win and find ways, and I know I can.â€
Sometimes all that matters is a shift in fortune.
A ball goes a little high. A fielder goes a little low.
Any way the wind blows.