CHICAGO — Cardinals rookie catcher Pedro Pages smacked his second home run of the series and his second as a big leaguer, both having come with his father in attendance and the second on Father’s Day, to lift the club to a narrow victory and a road series win.
Pages’ two-run homer provided all the scoring in a 2-1 nail-biter of a win over the Chicago Cubs in the finale of a three-game set Sunday at Wrigley Field.
The Cardinals (35-35) climbed back to .500 with the win and clinched a second consecutive series victory against an National League Central foe.
Cardinals starting pitcher Miles Mikolas (5-6) allowed one run on four hits in 6â…“ innings. He struck out five and did not walk a batter. He recorded a fifth consecutive quality start.
The Cardinals bullpen kept the Cubs out of the scoring column, though the Cubs (34-38) put the tying run in scoring position in the eighth and ninth innings. The winning run also reached base in the ninth inning.
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Ryan Helsley pitched around a leadoff walk and a two-out walk in the ninth, and he registered his MLB-best 24th save of the season. Helsley retired pinch hitter Patrick Wisdom on a fly ball to the warning track in left field to end the game.
Pages’ big weekend continues
Pages started at catcher for the sixth time in the team’s past seven games, including all three games in the series against the Cubs.
The Cardinals faced left-handed starting pitchers in the first three games in Chicago, and catcher Ivan Herrera served as the designated hitter for those games. Herrera was not in the starting lineup on Sunday.
Herrera had taken over as the primary catcher since starting catcher Willson Contreras suffered a fractured forearm. However, Herrera’s inability to limit stolen bases — opposing teams have successfully stole bases on 41 of 44 attempts against Herrera — has played a big part in Pages’ increased playing time.
“He frames really well, calls a good game and controls the running game,†Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said of Pages prior to Sunday’s game. “I know he’s gotten a couple bobbles, but he can shut down the running game based on how he throws. So that has allowed him to be back there especially against several lefties that we have faced. That allows him to be back there while Herrera DHs.
“Then today, I felt like he did a really nice job with Miles last time. So I want to see that again.â€
Pages, who hit his first major league home run in Friday’s win, homered in his first at-bat on Sunday. He smacked an 0-2 sweeper from Cubs starter Jameson Taillon into the left-center field stands. His home run, which followed a Brandon Crawford double, gave the Cardinals a 2-0 lead.
Pages joined current Cardinals outfielder Lars Nootbaar and former Cardinals Mark McGwire and Gary Gaetti as the only players in team history with two home runs in their first three career games at Wrigley Field.
Mikolas benefits from close call
Mikolas didn’t allow a hit the first time through the Cubs batting order. He retired the first nine batters he faced, and he registered three strikeouts in the first three innings.
Mikolas’ strong start out of the gate came on the heels of him having retired the first 17 batters he faced in his previous start against the Pittsburgh Pirates on June 11. Mikolas took a no-hitter into the seventh inning of that outing. He ultimately tossed seven scoreless innings and allowed one hit and one walk against the Pirates.
The Cubs went from zero hits to generating a potentially big scoring opportunity in the fourth inning against Mikolas.
Mike Tauchman hit a leadoff single for the first hit of the day against Mikolas, then Seiya Suzuki’s seeing-eye single slipped through the infield and into left field to put two men on with two outs. Then a slow roller off the bat of Ian Happ squibbed just past Mikolas for an infield single and loaded the bases.
With the bases loaded, Nico Hoerner hit a chopper to Crawford at shortstop. Crawford threw to Nolan Gorman covering second base for the final out of the inning. The Cubs challenged the bang-bang play a second base, but the call on the field was confirmed after replay review.
That kept the Cubs scoreless and the Cardinals' 2-0 lead intact going into the fifth inning.
Mikolas retired the side in order in the fifth and sixth innings.
Cardinals bullpen takes over
Mikolas had allowed just the three fourth-inning singles when he took the mound in the seventh inning. He got the first batter, Suzuki, to fly out to right-center field. Then Happ registered the first extra-base hit of the day against Mikolas, a double into the right field corner.
After the double, Marmol replaced Mikolas with right-handed reliever Ryan Fernandez with a runner on second and one out in the seventh. The Cardinals were still protecting a 2-0 lead.
Fernandez got Hoerner to hit a harmless fly ball to right field for the second out of the frame, but left-handed-hitting Michael Bush swatted an RBI single to left field to cut the Cardinals’ lead in half. The run was charged to Mikolas.
Fernandez then walked Dansby Swanson after Swanson worked a full count, and that put the go-ahead run on base with Cubs catcher Miguel Amaya coming to the plate. Amaya hit a grounder to shortstop to end the inning, and the Cardinals held on to a 2-1 advantage.
In the eighth inning, Andrew Kittredge worked around a leadoff walk and a stolen base to strand the tying run on third base.
Crawford exits early
While batting in the eighth inning, Crawford swung and missed at a 2-1 pitch from Cubs left-hander Drew Smyly. After the swing, Crawford grabbed at the back of his leg.Â
Crawford came out of the game, and Jose Fermin finished the at-bat in his place. Fermin popped up to end the inning. The Cardinals later announced Crawford left the game with "cramping."Â
Masyn Winn, who started the game at designated hitter, moved to shortstop in the bottom of the eighth as the Cardinals lost the DH for the rest of the game.