ST. LOUIS – The Chicago Cubs head into the All-Star break on a high note. A sweep by the St. Louis Cardinals in Saturday’s doubleheader set up the Cubs looking to finish strong on a challenging road trip. Their bats and elite defense delivered while right-hander Jameson Taillon kept the Cardinals in check as the Cubs secured an 8-3 win Sunday.
The Cubs slugged six home runs, which featured two sets of back-to-back home runs in the fifth inning (Tómas Nido and Pete Crow-Armstrong) and the eighth (Ian Happ and Christopher Morel), the first by the franchise since 2019. It was part of multi-homer games for Crow-Armstrong and Morel. Crow-Armstrong is the youngest player (22 years, 111 days) to hit multiple home runs in a game at Busch Stadium III, which opened in 2006. “It was fun to watch for sure,” manager Craig Counsell said. “We did a really nice job, we got down early but swung the bats really well. Just good swings. … Pete had his best day in the big leagues.”
The Cubs finish the trip 5-2 to enter the All-Star break sitting at 47-51, the same mark they had through 98 games last year. With four days to recharge for the final 2 1/2 months, here are three takeaways from the Cubs’ first half. 1. THE ROTATION IS CONSISTENTLY CARRYING THE TEAM. Through all the injuries the Cubs have endured this season, their starting pitchers have provided the consistency that gives them at least a shot to make a run in the second half. Following Taillon’s performance Sunday (three runs in 5 2/3 innings), Cubs starters combined for a 3.67 ERA in the first half, ninth-best in the majors and fourth in the National League. Their 518 innings pitched are the 10th-most in MLB.
