A very nice win to kick off the second half of the season, even if you probably would have liked to have seen the bullpen be leaned a little less heavily. [Insta-update: How appropriate, then, that the Cubs traded for a reliever literally as this game ended.]
Having gone down early in this one, you just never had a feeling like the Cubs were in serious trouble. I mean, sure, I’ll concede I was real nervous that the game might get out of hand when the Cardinals were up 3-1 with the bases loaded and having just bounced Kyle Hendricks before the fifth inning ended. But the nervousness there was more about something wonky happening to give the Cardinals a huge lead, and not about the Cubs not having an ability to come back if the lead stayed reasonable. Because they always come back, man.
And comeback they did, breaking out for five in the bottom of that frame, and scoring nine relentless runs by the time the night was up.
Not to drop a “both sides” on you, but there was sloppiness by both the Cardinals and Cubs tonight, though the CardinaLOLs definitely claimed the lion share. It seems dumping Mike Matheny did not immediately tighten up the ship.
Special shouts to Jason Heyward and Victor Caratini on their three-hit nights.