Game of the Week Recap: Cardinals 3, Cubs 0

By David Conde
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Updated: April 6, 2015

The hype surrounding the debut of Chicago Cubs starter Jon Lester did not go as planned as the St. Louis Cardinals ruined the Cubs home opener with a 3-0 victory.

Lester looked to have his best stuff working as he was able to strike out six Cardinals batters with ease, but the one area of his game that needed work was his inability to throw over to first base and hold runners on. It is noted that he has not thrown over to first base in over two seasons and the result on Sunday night was four out of five stolen bases, with runners looking to go at will against Lester. That area will need to change if he wants to keep them honest and out of scoring position.

Lester would finish the night tossing 4.1 innings, and allowing three runs on eight hits, and two walks, to go along with his six strikeouts. Not a debut that he nor the Cubs faithful were hoping for.

On the other side of the diamond, Adam Wainwright did his part to keep his teammates in the game as he threw six scoreless innings, allowing five hits while also striking out six. He earned his first win of the season with ease as he kept the Cubs hitters in check all night.

Game Highlights:

In the top of the first inning, Jason Heyward hit a one-out double to right and Matt Holliday followed with a single to score Heyward. Lester was able to strike out Jhonny Peralta and Matt Adams to end the inning.

In the top of the second, Kolten Wong walked and Jon Jay lined a single to right. After Wainwright struck out, Matt Carpenter hit a single to right field scoring Wong to put the Cardinals up 2-0. The inning ended when Carpenter was thrown out trying to steal second base by David Ross.

In the top of the third, Heyward doubled for the second time in two at bats, to lead off in the inning, but Lester worked around the jam to keep the Red Birds off the board. But his teammates were not having any luck as they were able to get the lead-off hitter on base in each of the first three innings, but failed to reach home.

In the top of the fifth and Lester still on the mound, Carpenter led off with a single to right, then Heyward lined his third hit of the game to left field and Carpenter moved over to third base. Holliday then sent a soft line drive to right field scoring Carpenter from third to make it 3-0, while moving Heyward to second. After a double steal that moved Heyward to third and Holliday to second, Lester got Peralta to pop out to second baseman Tommy La Stella for the first out of the inning. Phil Coke was called on to relieve Lester and quickly disposed of Matt Adams on three fastballs. He intentionally walked Molina to load the bases and then struck out Wong to end the threat.

Games Notes:

Cubs were 0-13 with runners in scoring position, leaving seven on base.
Cubs used five pitchers in relief of Lester and they all combined for 4.2 innings, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K’s.
Cardinals were 3 for 14 with runners in scoring position, leaving 10 on base.

Stars of the Game:

Adam Wainwright – (1-0, 0.00), 6 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 6 K
Matt Carpenter – 2 for 5, R, RBI
Jason Heyward – 3 for 5, R, SB
Matt Holliday – 2 for 4, SB, 2 RBI
Jon Jay – 2 for 4

Next Game:

Both teams are off on Monday, but are back in action on Tuesday at 8:05 pm ET at Wrigley Field, as Cubs starter Jake Arrieta faces off against Cardinals Lance Lynn.

David Conde

David is the Co-Founder and Executive Editor of Legends On Deck®, as well as a Co-Host on Legends On Deck Podcast. David was a Senior Editor for MetsMerizedOnline.com, MetsMinors.net and Contributor for Hardballchat.com that spanned from 2010 to 2014. David made his MLB Debut as a writer in June 2014, while covering the NY Mets at Citi Field, for MetsmerizedOnline.com. David also coaches baseball for ages 13-15, a Babe Ruth League team in his local community. David's passion is coaching the game he loves to the future Legends of Tomorrow as well as making available a website that people can have fun sharing and reading. David is also passionate about his career as a Mortgage Loan Officer which allows him to help many families reach their dreams of owning a home. Connect with David via his Social Media pages as he loves to chat all about baseball.