For the first time in its history, one of the greatest rivalries in all of sports was contested in the postseason. After defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates in a heated Wild Card matchup, the Chicago Cubs came into St. Louis to face the Cardinals in their first postseason appearance since 2008. Jon Lester, the fiery lefty, was set to oppose the Cardinals’ bargain in John Lackey, who is pitching for the league minimum.
While Lester put together a solid performance, allowing three earned runs on five hits, along with striking out nine, it was Lackey that stole the show. Through seven and a third, the Cardinals’ righty threw a shutout, only allowing two hits and one walk while striking out five. Lackey exited to a standing ovation in the eighth after forcing Starlin Castro to ground out shortstop.
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Through the first seven innings, only one run was scored by either side, and it came across all the way back in the first. With one out, Stephen Piscotty hit a ground rule double to deep right with Matt Holliday on deck. Holliday wasted no time in putting St. Louis on the board, singling to shallow right center and bringing Piscotty home.
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The next run would not come across until the bottom of the eighth, the inning in which the bleeding began. Pinch-hitting for reliever Kevin Siegrist, rookie Tommy Pham hit a 425 foot bomb to left, stretching it to a two-run lead for the Redbirds. Visibly upset, Jon Lester walked Matt Carpenter in the next at-bat before being pulled by Joe Maddon. Pedro Strop, in relief, allowed Carpenter to advance to second on a passed ball, but this would prove irrelevant. The next batter, Piscotty, hit a two-run shot to left, making it a 4-0 ball game. For both Pham and Piscotty, this was the first Postseason home run of their careers, with Pham’s coming in his first ever at-bat in the Postseason.
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Despite the scoreless game from the Chicago offense, there were a few moments throughout the game where it looked as though they might break through the glass ceiling that Lackey, along with Siegrist and Trevor Rosenthal, kept them enclosed in. In the top of the sixth, Dexter Fowler hit a ball far and long to right field. Although it appeared that it would be gone, it died just inside the wall and was tracked down by Randal Grichuk.
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Then, in the top of the ninth, the Chicago offense put on their rally caps and threatened to make a game out of it. After Chris Denorfia struck out looking, Jorge Soler walked with Fowler on deck, who also then struck out. They would not die, however, as Kyle Schwarber singled to shallow left to put the always dangerous Kris Bryant at the plate. With two out, one swing could have easily made this a one score game and given the Cubs new life. After an argument with Yadier Molina and a mound meeting with manager Mike Matheny, Rosenthal settled back down and struck out Bryant, giving the Cardinals the victory.
Player of the Game: John Lackey
If you can’t score runs, you can’t win. John lackey, quite simply, didn’t let Chicago score runs. On top of that, he only allowed two hits in his seven and a third. With only five strikeouts, Lackey was getting ground balls and limiting the amount of times that hitters made solid contact with the ball. Despite injuries in the pitching staff, it has been guys like Lackey who have stepped in and played great that have sustained the Cardinals’ success in 2015.
NLDS Game 2 (STL leads 1-0) First Pitch 5:37 ET
Because Cub ace Jake Arrieta pitched so deep into the Wild Card Game, we will not see him until game three of this series. Game two will feature Kyle Hendricks pitching for Joe Maddon’s team, while Mike Matheny will bring out Jaime Garcia for the Redbirds. The series stays in St. Louis for this game, after which it will move to Chicago for games three and, if necessary, four. The Cubs will need to get their big bats going if they want to advance in the Postseason, because the experience difference leans heavily in favor of the Cardinals.