CHICAGO — Cardinals catcher Pedro Pages’ first major league home run had just enough steam behind it to land in the basket just above the storied Wrigley Field ivy in left field. Meanwhile, Patrick Wisdom’s towering blast did not. Instead, Wisdom’s ball came to rest in left fielder Brendan Donovan’s glove, and the momentum it might have carried with it disappeared.
Pages’ solo home run in the eighth inning pumped life into a sputtering offense and broke a scoreless tie. The Cardinals’ defense protected that slim margin in the bottom half of the inning, and they tacked on insurance runs in the ninth to set up closer Ryan Helsley’s MLB-leading 23rd save of the season as he capped a 3-0 win over the Chicago Cubs in the first game of a three-game set at Wrigley Field on Friday afternoon.
The Cardinals (34-34) climbed back to .500 with the win.
Nolan Arenado doubled in the top of the ninth, then scored on an Ivan Herrera RBI double. Herrera scored on a Dylan Carlson RBI single and gave the Cardinals a three-run cushion headed into the ninth inning.
Helsley allowed the tying run to come to the plate in the ninth inning after a pair of walks, but he struck out Nico Hoerner, swinging, for the final out.
Cardinals starting pitcher Kyle Gibson (5-2) pitched seven scoreless innings. He allowed just two hits and one walk. He also struck out six.
Key plays preserved a lead
The Cardinals led 1-0 in the bottom of the eighth when rookie reliever Ryan Fernandez gave up a leadoff single to Michael Busch. Pinch runner Pete Crow-Armstrong stole second base, and then advanced to third on a grounder to second base.
With one out and the infield playing in on the grass, Miguel Amaya hit a grounder sharply to second baseman Nolan Gorman, who threw home in time to cut down Crow-Armstrong with a good tag from Pages for the second out of the inning.
With Amaya on first, Wisdom pinch hit against Cardinals left-handed reliever JoJo Romero and blasted a ball to left field — exit velocity on the drive registered at 111 mph. The ball traveled to the warning track in the left-field corner, but Donovan caught the ball for the final out of the inning just as Wisdom reached first base and put his hands on his head in shock.
That left the one-run lead intact going into the top of the ninth.
Wicks gives way to Hendricks
Cubs starting pitcher Jordan Wicks made just his sixth start of the season, and his first since he came off the injured list (left forearm strain).
Wicks, a left-hander, gave up a two-out single to Cardinals first baseman Paul Goldschmidt in the first inning, but Arenado bounced into an inning-ending fielder’s choice.
Wicks then retired the first two batters of the second inning, Gorman and Herrera, on back-to-back strikeouts. The third batter, Carlson, singled to left field. Immediately after the Carlson hit, Wicks received a visit from the trainer on the mound. Wicks left the game with two outs and a runner on after he’d thrown just 28 pitches (20 strikes). He gave up two hits and struck out two.
Cubs manager Craig Counsell said during his in-game interview with the Marquee Sports Network that Wicks suffered an oblique injury. Roughly a half inning later, the Cubs announced Wicks had “right oblique discomfort.”
Right-hander Kyle Hendricks, who’d been demoted to the Cubs bullpen after having been in the starting rotation earlier this season, came on in relief of Wicks. He got an inning-ending grounder from Donovan upon entering the game.
In his career against the Cardinals, Hendricks had posted a 13-4 record and a 2.68 ERA with a 1.068 WHIP and 4.22-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 26 previous appearances entering the day.
An old nemesis strikes again
Hendricks retired the first 11 batters he faced to start his outing. He retired the first 10 on just 40 pitches.
The Cardinals didn’t get their first hit against Hendricks until rookie shortstop Masyn Winn singled on the grounder into left field with one out in the sixth inning.
Hendricks allowed just two hits in 4 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. He struck out one and did not walk a batter.
Hendricks entered the day having posted an 0-4 record and a 9.07 ERA in 11 games (seven starts) this season.
About time for a visit
The series that began on Friday marked the latest in the regular season, not including the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, that the Cardinals have made their first trip of the season to Wrigley Field since the 2016 season. That year, their first visit came on June 20-22.
Thanks to a game postponed by rain and rescheduled for later this season, they entered the day having matched up just twice this season prior to this weekend series. The Cardinals won both games at Busch Stadium on May 25-26.
The kings of close calls