Cubs: 3 oddities from Friday’s series opener against the Cardinals

There’s always a little bit extra on each matchup between the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs. A lot of history, plenty of trash talking, great baseball and memorable moments are all at play every time these teams meet.

Heading into Sunday night’s matchup, the Cubs remain a few games behind the Cardinals for the top spot in the NL Central. Neither team has seem to play their best thus far into the season, but the Cubs and Cardinals have been hitting their stride as the season goes on.

Friday night in St. Louis was filled with a great performance from Cubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks, who has not been himself thus far. Of course, that’s not to mention a 12-run outburst from the bats. Chicago got the job done and inched their way closer to the Cards with a final score of 12-3.

Throughout this contest their were some interesting game-altering details that took place. The final score doesn’t tell the full story, as this game was close until the late innings. In this piece, i’m going to break down some key points in this Cubs victory.

Cubs: Joc Pederson’s early aggression pays dividends

The first pitch of the game from Cardinals hurler Carlos Martinez was swung on by Joc Pederson and crushed into the right-center field bleachers. It was a high drive that just snuck over the wall to give the Cubs their first run of the ball game.

In the fifth, Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner’s opposite field double and a perfectly executed sacrifice bunt from pitcher Kyle Hendricks set the table for Pederson to get himself his second RBI of the ball game. Sure enough, Pederson took the first pitch Martinez served up to the deepest part of the ballpark for a sacrifice fly.

I like patient hitters who make the pitchers work a little bit but you cannot argue with the results of Pederson’s aggression as he was responsible for the Cubbies’ first two runs of the game. Not to mention how well he’s been swinging the bat since he returned to the lineup after a  nagging wrist injury sent him to the IL. Pederson sits at a very nice .262 average on the season and a .400 average since his return.

Cardinals starter Carlos Martinez’ lack of control at play

Martinez has had his good games and bad games over the course of this season. To be fair, you can chalk up his start against the Cubs on Friday night as a decent outing that was blown open by the Cardinals bullpen. However, his control was not on point as he proceeded to hit three batters over the course of the fourth and fifth innings.

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In the fourth, the St. Louis right-hander made quick work of the first two batters on fewer than six pitches. Then, Martinez hit Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo to put a runner on with two outs. Next batter was shortstop Javier Baez who was uncharacteristically patient and took a walk. That was super impressive from Baez as he is one of the best bad ball hitters in the game and is prone to swinging at balls that are heading toward the broadcast booth.

Next to bat was center fielder Ian Happ. Happ takes a ball, digs in for pitch number two and couldn’t get out of the way of a ball that was thrown behind him. After the two hit batters and walk, the bases are juiced with two outs. This prompts a mound visit from Yadier Molina, as David Bote digs and takes some practice cuts. Impressively, Martinez makes quick work of Bote and gets out of the bases loaded jam, leaving Cubs fans frustrated.

A similar story occurred in the fifth inning for Martinez. The Cubs put a nice inning together and scored a run after a Hoerner double and a Pederson sacrifice fly. It seemed that the damage was done as the bases cleared and there were two outs. MVP candidate Kris Bryant steps in and takes a pitch in the leg. Then Contreras comes up and grounds out to second to end the inning. It was strange because Martinez seemed to be able to work his way out both scenarios in which he hit batters with two outs.