Cubs’ fielding mix-up allows Cardinals to rally for 5-4 win

CHICAGO - A Cubs fielding mix-up allowed Nolan Arenado’s short fly to drop for a tying, two-run single in a three-run eighth inning, Tommy Pham tripled and scored in the ninth and the St. Louis Cardinals rallied past Chicago 5-4 on Saturday.

St. Louis trailed 4-1 in the eighth before newly acquired third baseman Isaac Paredes threw wildly past first on Brendan Donovan’s grounder off Porter Hodge, allowing Alec Burleson to score from second on the error.

Arenado hit a fly to short center that second baseman Nico Hoerner called for and was readying to catch when rookie center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong called him off. Crow-Armstrong couldn’t get to the ball, which dropped 213 feet from the plate as two runs scored.

Pete Crow-Armstrong #52 of the Chicago Cubs is unable to field a fly ball during the eighth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Wrigley Field on August 03, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

"I called it when I shouldn’t have. Simple as that," Crow-Armstrong said. "I know better. I just did a poor job checking."

Pham led off the ninth with a drive against Héctor Neris (8-4) that hit off the glove of leaping Ian Happ and the ivy on the left-field wall as Pham slid into third.

"It looked like he caught it," Pham said of Happ’s try. "But that’s a brick wall behind — I’ve been on the other end of those kinds of plays here."

Pham scored on Lars Nootbaar’s flyout.

Pham also doubled and is hitting .471 (8 for 17) since returning to the Cardinals, who acquired him from the Chicago White Sox.

"He’s been phenomenal," manager Oliver Marmol said. "He likes playing meaningful games."

JoJo Romero (5-1) pitched a perfect eighth and Ryan Helsley a 1-2-3 ninth for his major league-leading 34th save in 37 chances, stopping Chicago’s three-game winning streak.

Burleson hit his 18th home run for St. Louis, a drive to right in the first inning originally ruled in play. A video review determined the ball hit the bricks above the right-field wall.

Michael Busch hit a two-run homer in the bottom half, going deep for the second straight day.

Crow-Armstrong had a run-scoring triple in the second and scored on Miguel Amaya’s sacrifice bunt back to the mound for a 4-1 lead.

Cubs starter Jameson Taillon allowed one run and six hits in six innings, while Kyle Gibson combined with two relievers on a five-hitter, giving up four runs and five hits in seven innings.

"Giving the team a chance to win looks a lot different every single time and, thankfully, the offense made this outing stand up and gave the team a chance to win," Gibson said. "They did a great job scratching out runs."