ST. LOUIS CARDINALS NOTES:
REDBIRDS RISING:: The St. Louis Cardinals and division-rival Chicago Cubs play the second game of a four-game series at Wrigley Field this afternoon on Apple TV+ as the Cardinals continue a seven-game road trip through Chicago (1-0) and Arizona (July 21-23) … Entering today in 4th place in the NL Central, 10.0 games behind 1st place Milwaukee, the Cardinals have climbed out of the divisional basement for the first time since May 28 when they were last all alone in 5th place … St. Louis has spent 80 of 110 days in last place on this season’s MLB schedule (April 26-May 19 & May 29-July 7) … The Cardinals are nine games below .500 for the first time since June 3 (25-34 record) … This season is the Cardinals slowest start since 1995 when they were 40-57 (.412) after 97 games … 28 of the next 40 Cardinals games are against sub-.500 teams.
TIME TO FLY: The Cardinals have won a season-best six straight and nine of their last 11 games, matching the Orioles (9-2) for MLB’s record since July 6 … They’ve won three consecutive series now, and with a win today, can post their first seven-game win streak since an eight-gamer last August.
TASTE OF CHICAGO: The Cardinals and Cubs are facing off in eight of 11 games from July 20-30 … The last time the Redbirds played the same opponent 8+ times over an 11-game span was also against the Cubbies (July 19-22 at Wrigley Field & July 27-29 at Busch Stadium). – Elias
- Beginning with the London Series and leading into the MLB trade deadline June 24-July 30), 20-of-32 Cardinals games are against teams from the Windy City (10-Cubs, 3-White Sox) or Miami Marlins (7).
- St. Louis is 14-5 vs. the Cubs at Wrigley Field since July 10, 2021.
- Each of the first nine games between the Central Division rivals this season will be played outside of the city of St. Louis … The Cubs travel to Busch Stadium for a four-game series from July 27-30, the latest in the season that Chicago plays its first game in St. Louis since Aug. 13-15, 2010.
- Prior to 2023, the earliest St. Louis and Chicago ended a season series before August 1 was 2004 (April 30-July 20).
WALKER’S DEEP DISH: Last night, Jordan Walker (age 21.059) hit a two-run homer off Marcus Stroman in his Wrigley Field debut … Walker became the 7th-youngest Cardinal to ever homer at Wrigley Field and youngest since Hall of Famer Ted Simmons (age 21.038) went deep nearly 53 years ago on Sept. 16, 1970 … Walker also became the youngest Cardinal to ever go yard in his Wrigley Field debut (edging teammate Nolan Gorman at age 22.024 on June 3, 2022-also off Stroman) and the 7th-youngest visiting player all-time in Wrigley Field history (1916-present) to do so (chart left).
REDBIRDS IN FLIGHT, AFTERNOON DELIGHT: St. Louis has won 10 of its last 12 day games since June 17, and sports a 21-16 (.568) overall record in matinees this season (10-7 on the road) … Today is the first of four day games this road trip.
OH, CANADA: Six years ago today (July 21, 2017), Tyler O’Neill joined the Cardinals organization via trade with Seattle in exchange for LHP Marco Gonzales, and also later made his made MLB debut at Wrigley Field (April 19, 2018) … O’Neill is batting .292/.355/.583 (28- 96) with 8 HR, 20 RBI, and .938 OPS in 27 games vs. the Cubbies since 2021.
CARDINALS “DEVIL” MAGIC: The Cardinals 929-669 (.581 win pct.) won-loss mark post All-Star break since 2000 is 2nd in MLB only to the New York Yankees (949-665, .588) … The Cardinals best post All-Star mark this century was a 51-24 (.680) run in 2004 … St. Louis has sported a winning record after the All-Star break in 19 of 22 seasons since 2000, including a 43-25 record last season (.632).
FAST BREAKS: The Cardinals best starts coming out of the All-Star break include an eight-game win streak in 1935 and a seven-gamer in 2010 … Their best 10-game mark coming out of the break was 9-1 in 1935 … Most recently, the 2015 Cardinals raced out to a 8-2 start after the break, while the 2022 Redbirds stumbled out of the gate 1-3 before winning nine of their next 10 games. (Elias)
TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER: RHP JACK FLAHERTY (7-5, 4.29)
TODAY’S GAME
NL Ranks: Ground Into Double Plays (16, T-2nd), GIDP/9 IP (1.46, 1st*), Walks (51, 2nd), HR/9 IP (0.64, 5th)
- Making his 19th start of the season and his 2nd this season against the Cubs, both at Wrigley Field.
- Was scratched from his scheduled start against the Cubs in London on June 25 with right hip tightness.
- Is trying to extend his winning streak to five games, would be the longest winning streak by a Cardinals pitcher this season. The Cardinals have won 9 of his last 11 games started dating to May 9, his last start against the Cubs.
- Had a 13.2 inning scoreless streak (3rd on STL this season) and a 56.1 inning homerless streak (2nd-longest active at the time) snapped on a home run by Dominic Smith in his last start vs. WSH (7/16).
- Ranks 8th in NL ERA (3.03) since May 15 & 2nd on team; Jordan Montgomery (2.53).
- Surrendered a career-high 10 hits in back-to-back starts June 13 & 19, most consecutive by a Cardinals pitcher since Chris Carpenter had three straight in 2011 (4/29-5/10). Carpenter also recorded a win in one of those starts (at CHI, 5/10/11).
- Picked up his single-season high 16th GIDP in vs. MIA (7/6). He’s T2nd in the NL in that category with Bryce Elder, ATL, two back of Logan Webb, SF (18). Jack leads all of MLB in GIDP/9 IP (1.55).
- Has heled his opposition to six hits or less in 11-of-18 starts (STL 8-3). Has five scoreless starts of 5.0 innings or more, T-5th in MLB trailing only Blake Snell (7), Michael Wacha (6), Nathan Eovaldi (6) and Chris Bassitt (6).
- Has walked 5+ batters in four of his 18 starts, ranking 2nd in NL walks (51).
- Trails only Wainwright & DeJong in years of Cardinals service on 40-player roster.
- Has held his opposition to a .217 career batting average, leading all Cardinals pitchers in the Live Ball Era (post-1920); Bob Gibson (.228, 2nd).
- Missed a total of 122 games in 2022 due to a right shoulder injury (64 games from April 7-June 14 and another 58 games from June 27-Sept.4). Missed 88 games in 2021 with an oblique injury.
- Since becoming a full-time starting pitcher in 2018, ranks 13th among MLB pitchers with a 10.13 strikeouts/9 IP (min. 600 IP).
- St. Louis sports a 64-52 overall record in Flaherty’s 116 career starts. In his first 51 starts from his MLB debut (9/1/2017) until the 2019 All-Star Break, St. Louis went 21-30 (.412). In his last 65 starts (July 16, 2019-present), St. Louis is 43-22 (.662).
- In 116 career starts, Jack is 39-11 when receiving 2+ runs of support, 31-1 when receiving 3+ runs, and 27-0 with 4+ runs of support. Has received 2 or fewer runs of support in 68 of 116 (58.6%) career starts. Has 24 starts with zero runs of support.
- Is 24-16 in 57 career games (53 starts) at Busch Stadium. His .198 opponent batting average is the lowest in stadium history (min. 100 IP), while his 327 strikeouts (8th) ranks in the Top 10 among all pitchers in the ballpark’s history (since 2006). Trails Chris Carpenter (356) by 29 K’s for 7th all-time in stadium history.
LAST TIME OUT
- Earned his 4th straight win in as many decisions tossing 6.0 innings for a quality start. Allowed his first run in 13.2 innings and had his 56.1 inning homerless streak snapped on a home run by former high school playing pal Dominic Smith.
DATE vs. RESULT DEC IP H R ER BB SO HR NP-S
7/16 WSH W 8-4 W-7 6.0 3 3 3 2 7 1 92-62
CHICAGO CUBS NOTES:
Cubs vs. Cardinals
The Cubs and Cardinals play 12 games spanning four series this season … Chicago dropped two of three to St. Louis at Wrigley Field May 8-10 and split the two-game set in London June 24-25 … following this series the teams finish with four games in St. Louis (July 27-30) … the Cubs are looking for their first season series
win vs. St. Louis since going 14-5 against the Cardinals in 2017.
THE BIRDS ARE BACK IN TOWN: The Chicago Cubs today play the second game of a four-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals … the Cubs yesterday fell to the Cardinals 7-2 in the series opener … Yan Gomes went 3-for-4 with two triples, recording his first three-hit game since May 10 … Javier Assad (4.0 IP, 1 H, 3 BB, 4 SO) recorded his first career relief appearance of at least 4.0 innings with one or no hits allowed.
This is the eighth of a 10-game homestand vs. Boston (1-2), Washington (2-1) and St. Louis (0-1).
Chicago is 7-7 in its last 14 games and 8-13 in its last 21 contests since June 25 following a stretch in which it went 11-2 in 13 games from June 9-24.
The Cubs are the only N.L. Central Division club with a positive run differential (+33) … Pittsburgh is at -72, St. Louis -16, Cincinnati -12 and Milwaukee -3.
FAMILIAR FOES: Chicago has played the first game (0-1) in a stretch that sees 12 of 14 contests against division rivals, facing the Cardinals at Wrigley July 20-23 (4 games) and again in St. Louis July 27-30 (4 games), followed by four games vs. Cincinnati July 31-August 3 … the Cubs are currently 12-12 against the N.L. Central this season.
As part of the 14-game stretch, the Cubs face the Cardinals eight times in a 10-game stretch … the last time Chicago played one team in eight of 10 games was July 25-August 4, 1996 against the Rockies (July 25-28 @ COL, July 30-31 vs. SF and Aug. 1-4 vs. COL). (credit: Ed Hartig)
GIVING UP THE LONG BALL: Following the game on June 26, Cubs pitchers had surrendered the fewest home runs in the majors (72) … since June 27, Chicago’s staff is tied for the league lead in home runs allowed with 32 (also Washington) … in this stretch, Cubs starters are allowing 1.73 home runs per 9.0 innings, fifth-most among starting staffs, and the bullpen ranks 10th-highest with 1.39 home runs per 9.0 innings.
The current nine-game streak allowing a homer is the team’s longest since August 23-September 8, 2022 (15 games).
TWIRLING TRIPLES: Yan Gomes last night notched his first career two-triple game … he is the eighth Cubs catcher to achIEve the feat (ninth occurrence) and first since Willson Contreras did so May 9, 2018 … the previous major league catcher to hit two triples in one game was Stephen Vogt June 15, 2019.
MORE RECENT FIRSTS: Mike Tauchman Wednesday went 3-for-4 with a home run, two doubles, three RBI and a walk … it was the first time in his career he recorded three extra-base hits in one game, including his second career game-opening homer (also June 18) … his three RBI tied a season high and gives him six RBI in the last two games, his highest career RBI total in a two-game span.
Nico Hoerner Wednesday cushioned the Cubs lead in the eighth inning with his first career grand slam … it was the Cubs second grand slam in the last five days … Hoerner’s first came in his 26th career bases-loaded at-bat.
Miles Mastrobuoni Tuesday recorded his first career three-hit game … he is batting .389 (7-for-18) with a .450 OBP since being recalled July 8.
SEIYA IS SIZZLING: Seiya Suzuki on Tuesday went 4-for-6 with a home run, three RBI and two runs scored … his four hits and his three RBI both tie career-highs … in his last 13 games dating to July 4, Seiya is batting .340 (18-for-53) with one triple, two home runs, five RBI and nine runs scored … his current hot stretch Comes off a run of 13 games (June 15-July 3) in which he hit .102 (5-for-49) with a .301 slugging percentage.
His single in the first inning Tuesday came off the bat at 114.6 mph, the hardest batted ball by a Cub and hardest hit at Wrigley Field this season.
THAT’S A LOADED STATEMENT: In the team’s 32 games since June 11, the Cubs are batting .483 (14-for-29) with two home runs, three sacrifice flies, three walks, 40 RBI and a .500 OBP with the bases loaded … in the team’s previous 37 games from May 1-June 10, the Cubs were hitting .125 (3-for-24) with the sacks packed.
The Cubs’ .500 OBP, 40 RBI and 42 runs scored with the bases loaded since June 11 pace the majors … Chicago also ranks third in average (first in the N.L.) and OPS (1.190), and its .690 slugging ranks fifth in the majors, second in the N.L., since June 11.
Nico Hoerner is tied for the league lead in bases-loaded RBI (9) in that span.
BELLI AT BAT: Cody Bellinger in 28 games since being reinstated from the injured list on June 15 (left knee contusion) has batted .366 (37-for-101) with 22 runs, five doubles, five home runs, 15 RBI and a .970 OPS … he has a 7.2% walk rate and 14.4% strikeout rate in this span.
Bellinger enjoyed a career-high 13-game hitting streak from June 24-July 7, a stretch in which he hit .479 (23-for-48) with three doubles, two homers, seven RBI and a 1.167 OPS.
Bellinger owns a .427 average (35-for-82) since June 24, the best mark in the majors in that span … his .461 OBP ranks third and his 1.119 OPS is sixth in the majors during the stretch.
WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM YOUR … OUTFIELDER: Ian Happ tallied his eighth outfield assist of the season Sunday against the Red Sox, tying his career high from last season … his 16 outfield assists since the start of 2022 rank tied for the N.L. lead and tied for sixth-most in the majors in that span.
Happ’s latest assist came in the team’s 92nd game … he is the first Cub since Kyle Schwarber in 2018 to record eight outfield assists by team game no. 92 and just the third since 2000 (also Alfonso Soriano in 2007).
He is one of seven players in the majors and one of three in the N.L. with at least eight outfield assists this season … Adolis García of Texas leads the league with 11 outfield assists, and Fernando Tatis Jr. leads the N.L. with nine.
Starting Pitcher – #35 LHP Justin Steele (9-3, 2.96)
Last Time Out
Justin made his 50th career start and suffered his third loss of the season July 16 vs. BOS, giving up a season-high six earned runs and a career-high-tying 10 hits
(last, May 26 vs. Cincinnati) … was his first loss since May 26 vs. Cincinnati … gave up a season-high-tying two home runs, including his first career grand slam … allowed his first home run in the first inning of a game in 2023 … has struck out at least six batters in three of his last four starts … has allowed at least nine hits in back-to-back starts for the first time in his career.
Date Opp. Result IP H R ER BB SO PC-S Left
7/16 BOS L, 5-11 6.0 10 6 6 1 6 82-60 0-6
2023 Splits and Season Notes
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
Home 6-2 2.98 10 10 54.1 51 19 18 13 44
Road 3-1 2.93 7 7 43.0 37 16 14 7 43
AVG vs. LHB: .237 (18-for-76) / AVG vs. RHB: .241 (70-for-290)
Justin is scheduled to make his 18th start of the 2023 season today, his 11th at Wrigley Field … has posted a 2.42 ERA (36 ER/134.0 IP) since July 22, 2022, which is the lowest ERA in the majors during the run (min. 24 GS) … since the beginning of 2022, has pitched to a 2.86 ERA (40 ER/125.2 IP) in 24 starts at Wrigley Field, the fourth-lowest home ERA in the N.L. (min. 24 GS) during that span … his 2.96 ERA in 2023 is the fourth-lowest in the N.L. among qualified starting pitchers, while His 1.11 WHIP is the eighth-lowest in the N.L. … opposing batters are hitting .217 (28- for-129) with 38 strikeouts off his slider.
Earned his first career All-Star nod and pitched a scoreless fifth inning, allowing one hit with one strikeout in the N.L.’s 3-2 victory.
Started the Cubs’ first game in London, June 24 vs. St. Louis, earning the win (1 ER/6.0 IP).
Posted a 53.0-inning stretch without allowing a home run from April 14-June 17, which was the longest active streak in the majors.
Left his start May 31 vs. Tampa Bay after 3.0 perfect innings with left forearm tightness … was placed on the injured list June 3 (retroactive to June 1) and was activated June 17.
Had a 17-start streak of allowing three earned runs or fewer at Wrigley Field from April 24, 2022-May 10, 2023 … pitched to a 2.20 ERA (23 ER/94.0 IP) during the run … his 2.20 home ERA during the stretch was the third-lowest in the N.L.
Went eight starts before suffering his first loss of the season May 16 in Houston … allowed a season-high five runs in the outing … at the time of his first loss, was the only pitcher in the N.L. with at least six wins and zero losses.
Allowed two or fewer earned runs in 14-straight starts from July 22, 2022-May 5, 2023, tied for the second-longest stretch in Cubs franchise history (since 1901), behind Jack Taylor’s streak of 15 games June 13-Aug. 14, 1902 (tied with Jake Arrieta, 14 G, 7/30/15-4/4/16).
Went 1-1 with a 2.63 ERA (4 ER/13.2 IP) with 13 strikeouts in four Cactus League starts in 2023 … started and tossed the first 2.0 innings of the Cubs combined no-hitter, March 3 at San Diego.
