Donn Roach, Cubs squashed in 8-1 loss to Cardinals

Cards become first team to hit 50 wins

Starting pitcher Donn Roach made his Chicago Cubs debut against the first-place St. Louis Cardinals and managed to only work through 3 1/3 before Joe Maddon removed him from the game.

On their way to becoming the first team in the league with 50 wins, the Cardinals plated a combined eight runs during the bottom of the fourth and fifth innings, eventually going on to squashing the Cubs by the final score of 8-1.

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Chicago managed to get on the board first during the top of the second when Roach recorded his first hit and RBI as a Cub on a pitch that was sent out to right fielder Jason Heyward, scoring Starlin Castro. The Cubs had the bases loaded but were unable to capitalize on the opportunity, allowing Michael Wacha to escape without surrendering more runs.

The man who has haunted the Cubs, Yadier Molina, tied things up at one apiece on an RBI double to center fielder, Dexter Fowler. St. Louis would have themselves four RBI doubles in the game, including Molina’s in the fourth inning.

Following Molina’s extra-base knock, Xavier Scruggs gave the Redbirds the lead by scoring his veteran catcher from second base, making it 2-1. Their hit train continued as Matt Carpenter added an RBI single of his own, this time to right fielder Mike Baxter which extended their lead to three runs with Travis Wood on the mound.

Heading into the fifth inning, Chicago failed to answer and wouldn’t record until the top of the ninth inning. Randal Grichuk, who had an RBI triple in yesterday’s loss, drove in Heyward with an RBI double to make it 5-1.

Scruggs recorded his second RBI of the game by pushing Grichuk across home plate from second on a sharp line drive that would be good enough for two bases. They would score their final run of the ballgame on an RBI ground-rule double by Kolten Wong which scored Peter Bourjos to make it 8-1 with Wood still in the game.

Wacha (10-3, 2.77 ERA) held the Cubs to just one earned run on six hits with two walks and five strikeouts across six innings of work. The Cardinals have officially won the series and will go for the series sweep tomorrow as Jason Hammel (5-2, 2.65 ERA) takes on Carlos Martinez (8-3, 2.89 ERA) at 7:05 p.m. central time.

Next: Roach Makes His Cubs Debut