Here are tonight's starting lineups:


Chicago cubs(68-76)-

Rafael Briggs(cf)(.312-11 hr's-42 rbi)
Darwin Barney(2b)(.277-8 hr's-58 rbi)
Andrew McCutchen(rf)(.316-24 hr's-85 rbi)
Matt Adams(1b)(.290-34 hr's-102 rbi)
Starlin Castro(3b)(.283-22 hr's-76rbi)
Ryan Braun(dh)(.265-25 hr's 78 rbi)
Matt Szczur(lf)(.273-9 hr's-51 rbi)
Silas Jefferson(c)(.256 14 hr's 55 rbi)
Manny Machado(ss)(.246 4 hr's 43 rbi)
 
Zach Wheeler(13-11, 4.12 era)




St.Louis Cardinals(88-55)-

Minny Rivers(ss)(.319-2 hr's-45 rbi)
Buster Posey(dh)(.288-17 hr's-64 rbi)
Oscar Taveras(rf)(.341-41 hr's-111 rbi)
Bryce Harper(lf)(.296-32 hr's-91 rbi)
Jeremy Schaffer(1b)(.286-27 hr's-83 rbi)
Riley Yastrzemski(3b)(.294-17 hr's-69 rbi)
Jesus Montero(c)(.273-12 hr's-57 rbi)
Julio Ontavario(cf)(.275-9 hr's-61 rbi)
Kelton Wong(2b)(.276-8 hr's-46 rbi)

Michael Wacha(18-7, 2.44 era)



Top of 1

Briggs- Lines a sizzling single right back up the middle and out into center for a leadoff base hit.

Barney- Strikes out looking on a nasty breaking ball by the 2 time Cy Young award winner!

McCutchen- Hits it deep to center!!!.....Ontavario races back, but will run out of real estate as that one is long gone and the cubbies jump out to a 2-0 lead. Wacha left a rare hanging curve right out over the plate and the cub right fielder sure didn't miss taking advantage of the situation.

Adams- Hits a slow roller out to Wong at 2nd and he'll gobble it on up and make the short toss on over to The Big Bopper at 1st for out #2.

Castro- And that ball is hit deep to left-center!!....Harper sprints over from left and Ontavario from center.....and Harper one hands it on the track to retire the side! Boy when that ball left Oh My Starlin's bat I thought we were looking at a 4-0 deficit.



Cards 0       cubs 2


(stay tuned for more action tomorrow evening)

Glad to see the National League finally got into the 21st century and is using the DH.  It's extended the career of some of the old-time guys like Ryan Braun, Buster Posey, and former Cardinal Allen Craig, who really had a resurgence last year as Atlanta's DH.

I imagine the Angels are happy that Albert Pujols' "playing" contract finally expired. Now they only have that silly "personal services" part to pay over the next ten years. But to sign a guy to a 10 year playing contract and really only get 4 halfway good years out of it, although he had a fair 2016 season before totally falling off in '17 and then getting released.  You wonder if he'll go back to the Angels again and work for them under that personal services deal, or stay with the Red Sox as sort of a hitting/bench coach with Boston taking over the contract now that it's not such a huge amount to pay.

I read an article awhile back on my I-Glass that said Pujols wouldn't mind coming back here in some sort of front office capacity, but owner Brian Walton said he's never spoken to Albert about it.

How much do I need for a brewsky now days?

blingboy wrote: How much do I need for a brewsky now days?

The Cardinals have held their price to $13.50 for a 16 ouncer the last couple of years. I think a cold one at Yankee Stadium runs around $18 though.

Between that, and my old beater car, a 2015 model that only gets 55 miles to the gallon, and I have to drive it on gasoline all the time since the electrical system went totally kaput and costs too much to fix, I've been really feeling it in my budget. Maybe I should not have retired so soon??

I'm an old fart that thinks the DH should be for the allstar game only.

Mike, you should try one of these new hovercraft. it burns corn or seaweed. Speaking of weed, don't you think it's funny that the President is growing the wacky terbacky in the Rose Garden? I knew they would legalize it for the tax money sooner or later.

I sure hope James Ramsey is ready to go for the post season. He's a great field General you know...

Bottom of 1


Rivers- Walks on 4 Wheeler wayward ones to get things rolling for St.Louis.

On the first pitch Rivers is going!.....Jefferson's throw!....nails him!! Rivers' attempted theft of base #58 on the season is thwarted by a beautiful throw by the young cub catcher.

Posey- Hits it in the air to left...Szczur camps under it and has it for the out.

Taveras- Line drive caught by Machado at short! Machado timed his leap perfectly to spear that Taveras liner that was ticketed to left for a hit.


Cards 0      cubs 2



Top of 2


Braun- Hits it hard on the ground to Yastrzemski's left at 3rd, Riley gloves it and fires it across the diamond to Schaffer at 1st for the out.

Szczur- Smokes one down the line in right and that one kicks up chalk and will go all the way to the wall!....Taveras fields the carom perfectly off the wall and Szczur will have himself a stand-up 2-bagger. Almost every ball has been hit sharply off Wacha thus far this evening, which is something Redbird fans are not accustomed to witnessing when Michael takes the hill.

Jefferson- The first pitch is way outside but Eagle Eye(The laser beam strike zone indicator instituted in MLB back in 2016. Home plate umps are still in place, as they continue to make all the arbiting calls other than balls and strikes. Eagle Eye immediately renders it's the decision with a huge "BALL" or "Strike" message on the scoreboard and the umpire, with a bird's eye view of the scoreboard, almost simultaneously calls the pitch as well. Since it's induction, ball-strike arguments all but ceased to exist) calls it a strike. How rare is that!! We're going to have a short delay here as the geek up....cough cough....as the tech booth is going to have to see what the deal is with ol' reliable Double E. And now the Cardinal pitching coach, Ryan Franklin, is going to use this opportunity to head on out to the mound to see what's what with Mr.Wacha. (2 minutes later the red light comes back on and we're ready to resume play).  And the 1-0 pitch is laced into short right for a hit.....Szczur heads to 3rd and now he rounds the bag and he's heading for paydirt!!....Taveras scoops it up and fires it home....and Szczur is a dead duck!!! Jefferson will scoot on over to 2nd on the play......how the 3rd base coach(Ryne Sandberg) sends Szczur home on that one shall forever remain a great mystery as you could see from the farthest reaches of the ballpark that he didn't have a prayer of scoring.

Machado- Hits a little Texas Leaguer out in back of short!.....Rivers races out......Harper sprints in from left!.....and Rivers will make the running catch to retire the side......whew that was close!


Cards 0      cubs 2




(To be continued)

I see where the Yankees signed Rivera to another one year deal.

blingboy wrote: I see where the Yankees signed Rivera to another one year deal.

The ageless wonder. He's the first pitcher/coach I recall in quite a long time.

I hear that rumors are Shelby Miller might be our AAA pitching coach next year now that Chris Carpenter has been promoted to the big club, and Miller's attempted comeback hasn't worked out. Carpenter has done a good job with this staff. I think he relates to the players better than Westbrook did.

They say Chris likes to show off the cleat scars on his back to the newbies.

I was listening to the game and Cardinal announcer Joe Mather kept calling Riley Yastrzemski "Rodney".  I mean, Mather does a decent job on the broadcasts and is pretty funny at times, but he makes a lot of simple mistakes like that.

One time they had former manager Mike Matheny in the booth and Mather kept saying "when you guys won back 2011, you really knew how to use that bullpen". Hello Joe? Tony LaRussa was still the manager back 11 years ago. I know we all think that Matheny has managed the Cardinals forever since he just retired after last season, but it seems people forget their team history real fast.

Bottom of 2


Harper- It's often been said that a good trade is one that benefits both teams and that certainly has been the case with the trade two years ago that sent Allen Craig and young pitching phenom Rolando Bates to Washington and 4 time NL HR champion Bryce Harper west to St.Louis. Harper hits a little flair out in back of 2nd....Barney races back, but he won't get it and the Cards have their leadoff batter on for the second consecutive inning.

Schaffer- Wheeler backs the Bopper off the plate on his first pitch with some high inside heat. BB extends a menacing glare out towards the mound as he steps back in...Wheeler winds and delivers... now The Big Bopper hits the dirt getting out of the way from some serious chin music orchestrated by the cub pitcher!!! There's bad blood between these two coming off that earlier series in Wrigley this year and Carpenter doesn't like it as he barks from the Redbird dugout for the home plate to issue a warning to Wheeler.....it appears to be falling upon deaf ears as the ump lets play continue without interruption. Here's the next pitch.....oh my golly that one is belted deep to left!!.....Szczur turns around looks up and that one is long gone and this game is tied at 2!!!! The Big Bopper got all of that one.....and now the chant from the Cardinal faithful, "Big Bopper...Big Bopper"!!! And they want the big lug to take a curtain call...come on big guy!....and there it is.....well kind of a half-cocked curtain call as The Big Bopper quickly waves his cap out of the dugout and then scurries on back to his seat on the bench. Wheeler is not hiding his emotions out on the mound as he now has twice kicked the dirt in disgust....and now he flings the rosin bag over near the Cardinal dugout and that childish act is now drawing the ire of home plate umpire Jimmy Castalano as a stern warning to the cub hurler has now finally been issued. For whatever reason this Wheeler guy really has it in for The Big Bopper......well maybe his .396 lifetime batting ave. vs Wheeler has a little something to do with it.

Yastrzemski- Rodney....excuse me!.....Riley hits it on the ground right out to Machado at short and he'll fling her on over to Adams at 1st for the first out here in the bottom of the 2nd.

Montero- Chops a slow roller to 3rd!...Castro races in and barehands it...fires and his his man on a very close play!

Ontavario- Base hit thru the hole between short & 3rd!......Julio takes a wide turn at 1st!.....but he'll hold with a single.

Wong- He pops it up on the infield over near 1st...Adams says he's got it and he does to retire the side, but the damage was done compliments of The Big Bopper's 28th round-tripper of the year...a 2-run jack, and as we move along to the 3rd inning, it's the Cardinals 2 and the cubs 2.   





Top of 3


Briggs- Strikes out swinging as Rafael goes fishing for one in the dirt.

Barney- Hits in the air to right....Taveras glides a few strides to his left and has it for out #2. It appears that Wacha may be settling down here.

McCutchen- Rifles one to the gap in left-center!!....and that one is down and heading for the wall...Harper nicely plays the carom and he'll hold the cub right fielder to a double.

Adams- Line shot!!...speared by Rodney.....Riley at 3rd for the out!! another 2 inches of elevation on that Adams liner would have plated another cubbie tally.



Cards 2      cubs 2

Bottom of 3


Rivers- Spanks a Wheeler fastball over Machado at short and out into left for a leadoff base rap.

Posey- Hits it hard right on the ground right at Machado and this is going to be two....flips to Barney for one....over to Adams....and the throw pulls Adams way off the base! The errant Barney toss, Barney's 17th miscue of the season, allows the Redbird DH to reach safely.

Taveras- And now the rain here in St.Louis really starts falling and the retractable roof starts doing it's thing. We're going to have a 2 minute pause here until things get sealed up tight as it's now coming down in buckets. The cub fielders will momentarily run for cover over to the cubbie den(dugout)......and now Wheeler veers off course and heads over near the Cardinal dugout and has words with a few Cardinal players! And now he quickly races over to his own dugout. I'll tell you what....this Wheeler is really cruising for a bruising here. He best not tangle with The Big Bopper if he knows what's good for him. If Wheeler messes with those feathers he will get the beak, as his fellow teammate, Silas Jefferson, found out earlier this year when The Bopper thumped him but good in their little brawl!
And now play is about to resume as Taveras steps back into the box. Oscar, the reigning NL batting champ, comes into this game a full 12 points in back of this year's leader, Josh Hanratty of Cincinnati. And Wheeler's offering is hit about a mile high straight up behind home plate in foul territory....Jefferson will have plenty of real estate to corral this one and he does for the second out.

Harper- Doinks one about 15 feet up the 3rd baseline......Castro has to scamper in quickly....has it and rifles his throw on over to Adams at 1st to get Harper by a couple of steps and that will do it for the Cards here in the 3rd.

Cards 2       cubs 2



Top of 4


Castro- Strikes out looking on some serious Wacha heat! The Towering Inferno started a little slowly in this one, but you can see him settling in here and that spells "Trouble" with a capital "T" for cubbie hitters.

Braun- Ryan has had a storied career and this may be his last season in a cub uniform as he becomes a free agent at season's end. The cubs are looking to go younger in 2023 and Braun seems unlikely to be re-inked. The cub DH has twice been suspended for PEDs. A 50 gamer in 2014 and an 81 game suspension last year. And those black marks after twice being implicated for PEDs and getting off the hook due to sloppy delivery procedures by FEDEX couriers....the first time in between the 2011-2012 season and the second time in August of 2013. Braun strikes out swinging on a high hard one....2 down. Ryan just doesn't get around on those sort of pitches like he used to.

Szczur- Oh oh!!!....this one is driven deep to center.....I don't think this one is coming back and it's not as it disappears far over the wall and into the bird pond for a solo home run and Chicago has taken a 3-2 lead.

Jefferson- Pops it up on the infield near 2nd base.....Wong calls for it and has it for the out.


Cards 2      cubs 3

Game called in the bottom of the 4th due to lack of interest.

I'm far more disappointed that they haven't earned a capital "c" by now.

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--- KatieCubFan wrote:

I'm far more disappointed that they haven't earned a capital "c" by now.

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Funny!! That day is coming, Katie. All it takes is for your cubbies to win just one WS per century to avoid it. Now that Selig has added yet another team to post season play, your odds have dramatically increased.