Lackey's biggest mistake against the Cubs was not listening to Yadi
The Cardinals' magic number to clinch the NL Central title was reduced to three when the Pirates lost -- finally -- Wednesday night.
And that was about the only positive development for the Cardinals at Wrigley Field, where the bats were kept quiet yet again and they lost, 3-1, to the last-place Cubs.
The Cardinals were held to five singles while their batting average over the past nine games dropped to .224. They have scored more than two runs only twice during this latest offensive slumber.
Against Jake Arrieta and the Cubs' bullpen, the Cardinals put runners in scoring position in only two innings, they struck out 12 times and their lone run scored on an error. The only hit in 16 at-bats they got from their two-hole to five-hole batters came from Jhonny Peralta in the ninth, and the fly ball should have been caught by right fielder Jorge Soler.
The Cardinals are off Thursday before opening a regular-season-ending series against Tony La Russa's Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday in Phoenix. They still have a chance to clinch in the series opener, but to have a chance, they need the Braves to beat the Pirates on Thursday and the Brewers to beat them Friday. Manager Mike Matheny isn't counting on any assistance from the outside.
"I'm tired of looking up (at the scoreboard) waiting for somebody else to help us," Matheny said in his presser televised on the Cardinals Live postgame show on FOX Sports Midwest. "Nobody's helped us all season long. Why are they going to start now?
"We have to take care of our own business. We'll figure out how to take care of it after we have an off day."
3 UP
-- John Lackey. Two runs allowed in 6 2/3 innings gave the tall right-hander his seventh quality start in 10 outings since he was traded from the Red Sox. Lackey did not make many mistakes, and only one hurt him. It hurt him a lot. That was when he gave up a two-out, two-strike, two-run triple to Arrieta that gave the Cubs a 2-0 lead in the fourth they would not lose.
Watch the Cardinals Live pregame and postgame shows before and after every St. Louis Cardinals game on FOX Sports Midwest.
Talking to reporters after the game, Lackey second-guessed himself for throwing Arrieta a fastball in that situation, especially because he said Yadier Molina had called for a breaking ball.
Lackey said if he had gone with a breaking pitch, "I probably would not have allowed any runs. I over-thought it because that would have been the same (pitch) sequence as first time. I throw a fastball and it didn't work out."
-- Molina. He still isn't showing much power, but he appears to be getting closer to form with the bat. He was the only Cardinal with two hits in this one and extended his hitting streak to seven games. A strikeout looking -- on a pitch he didn't think was a strike -- was just his second strikeout during the hitting streak.
-- Oscar Taveras. He had one of the best at-bats of the night when, after falling behind 0-2, he worked the count full before singling to right on a tough pitch down and away. The hit was only the second for the Cardinals at the time and contributed to their only run. Taveras is hitting .333 in September.
3 DOWN
-- Hitting Arietta. The hard-throwing right-hander shut down the Cardinals for the fourth time this season, giving up one run on two singles in seven innings. He left with a 2-1 lead and earned his first win against St. Louis, though his record should have been better based on his other numbers. Arietta finished with a 1.61 ERA and a .183 batting average allowed while striking out 28 in 22 1/3 innings in four starts against St. Louis. And he hurt the Cardinals just as badly with his bat in this one.
-- Beating the Cubs. The Cardinals finished with a winning record against all four of their division rivals, but the one that's in last place gave them the toughest time. That would be the Cubs, who won two series and split another while going 9-10 against the Cardinals. Perhaps the most telling stat of the season-long series: The Cubs out-homered the Cardinals, 26-10. The Cardinals, by the way, went 12-7 against both the Brewers and Reds and 11-8 against the Pirates.
-- Kolten Wong. His bat has gone cold perhaps because, as Tim McCarver noted on the FSMW telecast, he's lowered his hands too far and it's hurt his swing. Whatever the reason, Wong is 0 for his past 10 and has been on base only once in his past three games, via a walk. Wong made a contribution with the glove, though, when he ranged well into right field and made an over-the-shoulder catch on Soler. Taveras should buy Wong dinner for covering for him on the play, too.
You can follow Stan McNeal on Twitter at @StanMcNeal or email him at stanmcneal@gmail.com.
