Morning Marquee: Chicago Cubs sweep doubleheader behind quality starts

For the first time this season, the Chicago Cubs found themselves in a doubleheader on Tuesday with the first-place St. Louis Cardinals in town and know you know Ernie Banks had to be excited about this two-game set.

After Jon Lester lost a no-hitter and eventually the game on Monday, Joe Maddon‘s third-place club were able to claim both contests with 7-4 and 5-3 wins to gain some ground in the N.L. Central.

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Ace pitcher Jake Arrieta took the mound for the Cubs during the afternoon start and turned in yet another quality performance. Arrieta picked up his ninth victory of the campaign and held the Cardinals to only two earned runs on seven hits and even recorded a hit of his own.

Despite the Cardinals falling in both games, they did, however, play some solid defense. Third baseman Mark Reynolds rushed in on a Chris Denorfia bunt attempt and was able to make the bare-handed grab for the out at first.

Denorfia was a key contributor in the afternoon victory as he finished 2-for-4 with a walk and three RBI. He was responsible for the first two runs of the ballgame to help back up Arrieta during the bottom of the third on a single to Peter Bourjos in center field and advanced to second on the throw to catcher Tony Cruz.

St. Louis would later cut Chicago’s lead down to just one run with a two-run seventh, but the home team would respond with a huge four-run eighth inning which featured a two-run bomb by All-Star reserve, Anthony Rizzo.

In the final game of the day, Dallas Beeler was called up to make his third big league start. The 26-year-old hurler made two starts with the Cubs last season, finishing the year with a 0-2 record while posting a 3.27 ERA, 6/7 K/BB ratio, and 1.55 WHIP across 11 innings.

Like Arrieta, Beeler had himself a great starter, holding the Cardinals to only two earned runs on four hits with two walks and six strikeouts. He also recorded his first year of the year – a double that looked as if it was going to leave the yard in the third inning.

With the Cubs trailing 2-1 in the seventh, rookie second baseman, Addison Russell became a part of a play that I’m sure we’re going to hear about over the course of the rest of the season. Russell made contact on a ball that appeared to be foul outside the batter’s box, but it took a strange hop and ended up landing fair behind the bag at first.

This resulted in them tying things up at two apiece and reliever Seth Maness being ejected by first base umpire, Pat Hoberg. They ended up scoring three in the inning.

Still, the Cubs remain 7.5 games out of first but 4.5 behind the second-place Pittsburgh Pirates.

Here’s more from around the league:

‘Chicago Cubs’ huge eighth inning leads to 7-4 win over the Cardinals‘ – Cubbies Crib

‘Kansas City Royals sweep doubleheader with 7-1 win‘ – Kings of Kauffman

‘Vincent Velasquez remains winless as Indians blank the Astros, 2-0‘ – Climbing Tal’s Hill

‘St. Louis Cardinals recap: Siegrist’s error costs Cardinals‘ – Redbirds Rants

‘Cincinnati Reds take down Nationals as Cueto outduels Scherzer‘ – Blog Red Machine

Next: Three-run Seventh Propels Cubs To Win

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