The game was decided before the fourth inning was over. St. Louis poured across 11 runs in the first four frames and never looked back, handing Chicago a 17-1 defeat at Wrigley Field on Friday before 39,440 fans. The Cardinals collected 17 hits and scored in six different innings, turning what might have been a competitive holiday-weekend series opener into an afternoon of damage control for the Cubs.
Andre Pallante was the quiet anchor of it all. While his offense built an insurmountable cushion, Pallante worked 5.2 innings, allowing just 5 hits, 1 walk, and no runs while striking out 2. He earned his 10th win of the season against 5 losses, carrying a 3.69 ERA. On a day when the Cardinals scored in bunches, Pallante's job was simply to not give any of it back — and he did not.
Nathan Church set the tone in the second inning, homering to right 384 feet to score Fermín and Jordan and give St. Louis a 3-0 lead it would never relinquish. The Cardinals added 3 more in the third, with Herrera scoring on a Velázquez sacrifice fly and Walker crossing the plate on a Winn single before Winn himself came around to score on a Fermín double. The fourth inning brought 5 more: Burleson singled to right to score Herrera and Walker, then Masyn Winn launched a three-run homer to left center — 391 feet — to push the lead to 11-0. St. Louis tacked on 3 in the fifth, 2 in the sixth on a Herrera single that scored Church and Jordan, and a solo shot from Bryan Torres in the seventh completed the Cardinals' scoring at 17. Chicago's lone run came in the bottom of the seventh, when Ramirez scored on a Bregman double.
David Peterson absorbed the loss for Chicago, allowing 10 runs on 9 hits and 3 walks over just 3.2 innings, striking out 3. He falls to 3-6 on the season with a 6.09 ERA. The Cubs' offense managed only 7 hits against Cardinals pitching and could not threaten at any point after the first.
St. Louis improved to 45-39 with the victory. Chicago, despite entering the day on a five-game winning streak, dropped to 49-38. Winn finished 2-for-4 with a home run and 4 RBI; Burleson went 2-for-5 with 4 RBI; Ivan Herrera was 3-for-4 with 3 runs scored; and Blaze Jordan and Jordan Walker each crossed the plate three times for the Cardinals.