The Chicago Cubs can clinch home-field advantage for their National League wild-card series with a win over the visiting St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday afternoon. However, that’s not the only item on their to-do list as they look to rejuvenate key offensive contributors.
Kyle Tucker came off the 10-day injured list on Friday before Chicago (90-70) romped to a 12-1 victory over the St. Louis (78-82). He went 1-for-4 with a walk and two runs.
“He got five plate appearances, so I’m very happy with how the day went,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “We’ll just get him up there as much as we can.”
While the right fielder/designated hitter is batting only .243 (33-for-136) in 39 games after the All-Star break, with five of his 22 home runs coming during that period, a healthy Tucker could be a difference-maker in the postseason, which will start next week against the San Diego Padres.
He is not alone.
Seiya Suzuki hit a grand slam in the Friday win to give him three homers in his past two contests and 30 on the season. Before Thursday, he last homered on Aug. 6.
Pete Crow-Armstrong hit just his fifth homer since the All-Star break on Friday, becoming the second Cub to join the 30-home run, 30-stolen base club. Sammy Sosa achieved the feat in 1993 and 1995.
Counsell said those two getting their power back is a good sign.
Jameson Taillon (10-7, 3.78 ERA) will start Saturday for the Cubs. The right-hander last pitched in a 1-0 loss at Cincinnati on Sunday. He was tagged with the decision after allowing the run and just five hits over seven innings. He did not walk a batter and struck out four.
Taillon sports a 6-3 career record against the Cardinals with a 3.94 ERA in 17 starts. He lost at St. Louis on June 24 when he was tagged for eight runs on eight hits in four innings.
St. Louis’ Alec Burleson, Lars Nootbaar and Nolan Gorman have enjoyed hitting off Taillon. Burleson is 6-for-17 (.353), including two doubles and two homers, when facing the 33-year-old veteran. Nootbaar is 4-for-12 (.333) with two homers, and Gorman is 5-for-16 (.313) with two long balls.
The Friday loss guaranteed the Cardinals their second losing season in the past three and just their third since 2000. The banged-up team is missing several regulars for the final series, and there is a good chance the front office will look to retool over the winter.
Some of those discussions are already happening. Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said he and pitching coach Dusty Blake have talked about the pitching staff for next season.
This series is also giving St. Louis a chance to look at potential arms for next season. On Friday, a taxed bullpen led to Marmol bringing Gordon Graceffo and Chris Roycroft out of the bullpen.
Graceffo, who had not pitched in a week, gave up five runs in one-third of an inning. Roycroft, in just his second outing in 11 days, yielded three runs over 1 2/3 innings.
“We knew we wanted to give those guys an opportunity, especially in this environment, before the season’s over,” Marmol said. “So you evaluate, you sit down, you talk it through, but there’s positives out of it. I know it sucks, but there really are.”
Rookie Michael McGreevy (8-3, 4.35 ERA) will start for St. Louis on Saturday.
The 25-year-old right-hander went 1-0 with a 4.22 ERA against the Cubs in two starts earlier this season, both at St. Louis. On Aug. 8, he pitched six scoreless innings to earn a 5-0 victory over Chicago. He allowed six hits, issued a walk and struck out three.
–Field Level Media
