St. Louis Cardinals at Chicago Cubs

The Cubs came into this season planning on contending for the division crown. Having to fight off the Cardinals in the National League Wild Card picture was probably not high on the list of expectations, given St. Louis’ recent history. The Cardinals came into Wrigley Field this weekend and showed the Cubs that things could be a bit more interesting down the stretch than originally anticipated. With a 6-4 win in the finale of a three-game set, the Cubs avoided a sweep and held their ground in the second spot in the NL Central standings. “Every time of year is big,” Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner said. “But it’s a time of year where teams are kind of deciding what direction they want to go. You want to seize every opportunity within that. I like where our group’s at right now.” Chicago took advantage of some mistakes in the field by the Cardinals and found some of the offense that went missing for the first two games. Fresh off a 35-run outpouring in the last three-game set against the Padres, the Cubs were outscored, 20-1, in the first two losses to St. Louis this weekend. The Cubs can now head into Monday’s off-day on a better note. Here are three keys to Sunday’s win for the North Siders: **1\. Capitalizing on Cards’ mistakes** Jordan Walker slugged a three-run homer off Cubs reliever Tyler Ferguson to put the Cardinals ahead in the top of the sixth, but mistakes mounted in the home half for St. Louis and the North Siders did not let the opportunity go to waste. First, Cardinals lefty Matthew Liberatore walked Carson Kelly and then gave up a single to Michael Busch to begin the bottom of the sixth. St. Louis handed the ball to reliever Matt Svanson, whose first pitch was shot into right field by Hoerner for an RBI single to pull the game into a 3-3 tie. “That’s a big spot,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “They went to the bullpen. I’m glad Nico was aggressive right there. It’s a get-the-run-in situation, and I think that’s what Nico was thinking. He got a pitch out over the plate and I think it’s a swing Nico took a lot this series.” Two batters later, Cardinals third baseman José Fermín made a throwing error on a Dansby Swanson grounder that allowed Busch to score the go-ahead run. Pedro Ramírez then delivered a sacrifice fly for the Cubs, but a wild throw to third by Walker on the play provided an opening for Swanson to score, capping off a four-run outburst.