Chicago Cubs Score and Recap (5/26/24): Cardinals 4, Cubs 3 – Fourth Straight Loss Despite Happ Homers

The Cubs and Cardinals had to wait over two hours for a torrential rain storm to pass before getting their game underway at Busch Stadium Sunday night. Chicago surrendered a pair of home runs to longtime tormentor Paul Goldschmidt to fall into a four-run hole before another late rally came up short and they lost their fourth consecutive game 4-3.

Javier Assad pitched well through the first two frames before he made the first of his two mistakes in the 3rd inning. The bespectacled right-hander caught too much of the plate with a pitch to Goldschmidt, who walloped it into the third deck for a two-run homer.

The Cardinals first baseman repeated the feat in the 5th with a slightly shorter two-run blast off Assad that put the home team ahead 4-0. Sonny Gray had no such issues with the Cubs lineup, pitching five scoreless frames before being pulled.

It was at that point that Ian Happ suddenly rediscovered his power stroke to help get his team back in the game. Happ blasted his own two-run homer off of Andrew Kittredge to cut Chicago’s deficit to 4-2 in the 7th.

Ian Happ sends one out! pic.twitter.com/PRH1MKUEqr

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) May 27, 2024

The North Siders loaded the bases in the 8th inning and could not score, but Happ greeted St. Louis closer Ryan Helsley with a solo shot in the 9th to bring the road team within a run at 4-3. The Cubs then had a pair of singles to put runners on the corners with two outs but Helsley got Seiya Suzuki to line out to end the game. (Box score)

Key Moment

Nico Hoerner was up with the bases loaded in the top of the 8th with two outs against lefty JoJo Romero. He hit a ground ball to second base to end the threat and Happ homered to lead off the following frame.

Why the Cubs Lost

They had late scoring chances to tie or go ahead but they just couldn’t get that big hit to get them over the top.

Stats That Matter

• Assad was not bad overall it was just those two mistakes to Goldschmidt that really hurt: 5 IP, 4 R, 5 H, 8 K, and 3 BB.
• The Cubs desperately need Happ, or quite frankly anyone at this point, to get hot and Sunday was a great sign for him.
• Another day, another two hits for Mike Tauchman, who has been Craig Counsell‘s most consistent hitter.

Bottom Line

This has been a bad month for the Cubs and nothing is going right over this four-game slide. They are now just a single game above .500, which feels about right for the way they have played. Now they have four against the first-place Brewers looming. This is a real challenge for Chicago right now to see if they can stop the bleeding and keep within shouting distance of the division lead. I’m not sure they can but I would like to be surprised.

On Deck

The aforementioned series in Milwaukee begins with a Memorial Day matinee at 3:10pm CT. Justin Steele takes the hill against young lefty Robert Gasser in a contest available on Marquee and 670 The Score.