The Chicago Cubs' poor defense cost them Saturday's game against the St. Louis Cardinals.
After taking the first two games of their four-game series at Wrigley Field, the Cubs were poised to win again on Saturday. They got six innings of one-run ball from Jameson Taillon and took a 4-1 lead into the bottom of the eighth inning.
With two on and two out, Brendan Donovan chopped a high bouncing ball down the third-base line to Isaac Paredes, who fielded the ball cleanly but didn't have a play. Rather than eating the ball, he desperately hurled it across the diamond in a futile effort to get Donovan, who was going to be safe no matter what. The ball sailed over the head of first baseman Michael Busch, allowing one run to score and the two baserunners to advance into scoring position.
Second baseman Nico Hoerner went back on the ball and appeared to be camping under it, while Pete Crow-Armstrong came in hesitantly from center. At the last possible second, Crow-Armstrong called off Hoerner, who got out of the way. Crow-Armstrong slid butThe Cubs completed their collapse in the ninth, allowing St. Louis to score again and steal a 5-4 victory.
It was another brutal loss for Chicago, which simply can't afford to blow winnable games like this at this point in the season. A win would have finally moved the Cubs out of last place in the NL Central and put them five games behind thefor the third Wild Card spot. It also would have given them four straight wins and clinched the series against the Cardinals.
Chicago will try to bounce back and win the series finale on Sunday Night Baseball behind Justin Steele , who has struggled since the All-Star Break with a 7.20 ERA over his last three starts . He'll face Miles Mikolas, who's 8-8 with a 4.99 ERA but is coming off back-to-back quality starts.Tyler grew up in Massachusetts and is a huge Boston sports fan, especially the Red Sox. He went to Tufts University and played club baseball for the Jumbos. Since graduating, he has worked for MLB.
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