By MATT PIKE
Iván Herrera doubled home two runs with one out in the 10th inning to help the St. Louis Cardinals rally to a 3-2 comeback victory over the Chicago Cubs at Busch Stadium snapping a three game losing streak.
A pitchers duel forced the game into the 10th in a 0-0 tie. Justin Bruihl, Ryne Stanek, George Soriano and Riley O’Brien each tossed a hitless inning for St. Louis in relief of Dustin May, who allowed one hit and two walks on 70 pitches over five innings in what could be his final start before the August 3rd trade deadline. The Cubs managed just three hits total off the Cardinals.
With one out, and courtesy runner Dansby Swanson on second base, Pete Crow-Armstrong hit a two-run home run, off Cardinals reliever Luis Gastelum in the top of the 10th to put Chicago ahead 2-0. In the bottom half of the inning, with Nathan Church starting at second base, pinch hitter Lars Nootbaar singled, moving Church to third, and JJ Wetherholt walked to load the bases. Jordan Walker drove in a run on a groundout to third base, scoring Church and Nootbaar being tagged out at third, before Herrera lined his double to left center, driving in Wetherholt and Walker for the walk off.
St. Louis moved back to .500 on the season at 54-54, one day after falling below .500 for the first time all year and snapped a three game losing streak, entering having lost nine of their last 11 games. Gastelum improved to 2-1 earning the win throwing one inning and giving up two runs, one earned on two hits. At the plate, Herrera was 3-for-5 with two doubles and two RBIs. Walker was 1-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored while Alec Burleson and Blaze Jordan were each 1-for-4. Nootbaar was 1-for-1 as a pinch hitter for the only other hit by the Cardinals.
St. Louis and Chicago wrap up their series tomorrow. Andre Pallante (11-6, 3.77 ERA, 83K's) takes the mound for the Cardinals against Javier Assad (6-1, 3.86 ERA, 42K's) for the Cubs. First pitch is at 1:15pm, coverage will begin at 1:05 on KY 102 (102.5 FM).
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