Chicago Cubs Score and Recap (9/24/21, Game 2): Cardinals 12, Cubs 4 (Final/7) – Red Hot Redbirds Sweep DH

It wasn’t a good day for Cubs pitching as Friday night saw the Cardinals continue the offensive explosion they started in the afternoon game to sweep the split doubleheader at Wrigley Field.

There wasn’t a ton to get excited about as a Cubs fan and even less to celebrate after Patrick Wisdom’s 1st inning bomb pulled the Cubs to within 3-2 after Zach Davies gave up a bunch early. In addition to the three runs he surrendered in the 1st, Davies allowed three more in the 2nd to put the Cubs in a deeper hole. Then he gave way to Michael Rucker, who gave up another couple in the 3rd.

Already down 8-2 before they even took their third turn, the Cubs could have run up the white flag at that point. The Redbirds are red hot and showed it by belting five home runs, including two from NL Name of the Year frontrunner Lars Nootbaar. They also got bombs from Tyler O’Neil, Paul DeJong, and Harrison Bader, so their create-a-player project remains fruitful.

For all that firepower, they’re going to struggle in the playoffs if recently activated ace Jack Flaherty can’t throw more than 19 pitches soon. He started in this one and was only expected to go an inning or two, but he only managed to record one out Friday night.

Not that it really mattered in this one, as the Cubs offered little resistance once Flaherty exited. (Box Score)

Why the Cubs Lost

Even Frank Schwindel’s continued domination of MLB pitching wasn’t enough and the Cardinals poured it on with shots all over the yard.

Key Moment

After Wisdom made it a 3-2 game in the 1st inning, O’Neill hit a three-run bomb in the top of the 2nd to essentially seal the victory in a shortened seven-inning affair.

Stats That Matter

• Schwindel is now slashing .366/.413/.672 through 186 at-bats with the Cubs this season. This isn’t a freak thing anymore, right?
• Wisdom continues his march toward 30 home runs with his 28th on the season to go along with 61 RBI in just 335 at-bats.
• Davies is 0-2 with a 15.32 ERA in four September starts and opposing batters have a .424 average against him in those games.

Bottom Line

As Jed Hoyer noted on the telecast, the Cubs ran into a buzzsaw today in a nuclear Cardinals team that has now won 14 in a row. Gross. The Cubs will feel good about themselves if they can just win one game in the weekend series at this point.

On Deck

The Cubs host the Cards for the last two games at Wrigley Field this season, starting with old friend and newly minted 200 game winner Jon Lester. He’ll take the bump against Adrian Sampson at 1:20pm CT with Marquee and 670 The Score carrying all the action.