CHICAGO (AP) — A Cubs fielding mix-up allowed Nolan Arenado’s short fly to drop for a tying, two-run single in a three-run eighth inning, Tommy Pham tripled and scored in the ninth and the St. Louis Cardinals rallied past Chicago 5-4 on Saturday.
Greenfield’s Kyle Gibson got the start for the Cardinals but did not get the decision.
He gave up four runs in seven innings of work. Chicago scored two runs each in the first and second innings.
Gibson left with the Cards trailing 4-1, but he kept his club in the game by shutting down the Cubs in his final five innings of work.
Cubs starter Jameson Taillon allowed one run and six hits in six innings, while Gibson combined with two relievers on a five-hitter. Gibson struck out seven and walked one..
“Giving the team a chance to win looks a lot different every single time and, thankfully, the offense made this outing stand up and gave the team a chance to win,” Gibson said. “They did a great job scratching out runs.”
St. Louis trailed 4-1 in the eighth before newly acquired third baseman Isaac Paredes threw wildly past first on Brendan Donovan’s grounder off Porter Hodge, allowing Alec Burleson to score from second on the error.
Arenado hit a fly to short center that second baseman Nico Hoerner called for and was readying to catch when rookie center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong called him off. Crow-Armstrong couldn’t get to the ball, which dropped 213 feet from the plate as two runs scored.
“I called it when I shouldn’t have. Simple as that,” Crow-Armstrong said. “I know better. I just did a poor job checking.”
Pham led off the ninth with a drive against Héctor Neris (8-4) that hit off the glove of leaping Ian Happ and the ivy on the left-field wall as Pham slid into third.
“It looked like he caught it,” Pham said of Happ’s try. “But that’s a brick wall behind — I’ve been on the other end of those kinds of plays here.”
It was the lone Cardinals win in the four-game series that wrapped up Sunday.
Gibson (7-4, 4.04) is scheduled to start Thursday in St. Louis against the Tampa Bay Rays. Game time is 7:15 p.m. ET. Shane Baz (0-1, 3.60) is slated to start for the Rays.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
