Cubs take down rival Cardinals as NL playoff race starts to shape up

CHICAGO -- The Cubs came into this season planning on contending for the division crown. Having to fight off the Cardinals in the National League Wild Card picture was probably not high on the list of expectations, given St. Louis’ recent history.

The Cardinals came into Wrigley Field this weekend and showed the Cubs that things could be a bit more interesting down the stretch than originally anticipated. With a 6-4 win in the finale of a three-game set, the Cubs avoided a sweep and held their ground in the second spot in the NL Central standings.

“Every time of year is big,” Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner said. “But it’s a time of year where teams are kind of deciding what direction they want to go. You want to seize every opportunity within that. I like where our group’s at right now.”

Chicago took advantage of some mistakes in the field by the Cardinals and found some of the offense that went missing for the first two games. Fresh off a 35-run outpouring in the last three-game set against the Padres, the Cubs were outscored, 20-1, in the first two losses to St. Louis this weekend.

The Cubs can now head into Monday’s off-day on a better note. Here are three keys to Sunday’s win for the North Siders:

1. Capitalizing on Cards’ mistakes

Jordan Walker slugged a three-run homer off Cubs reliever Tyler Ferguson to put the Cardinals ahead in the top of the sixth, but mistakes mounted in the home half for St. Louis and the North Siders did not let the opportunity go to waste.

First, Cardinals lefty Matthew Liberatore walked Carson Kelly and then gave up a single to Michael Busch to begin the bottom of the sixth. St. Louis handed the ball to reliever Matt Svanson, whose first pitch was shot into right field by Hoerner for an RBI single to pull the game into a 3-3 tie.

“That’s a big spot,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “They went to the bullpen. I’m glad Nico was aggressive right there. It’s a get-the-run-in situation, and I think that’s what Nico was thinking. He got a pitch out over the plate and I think it’s a swing Nico took a lot this series.”

Two batters later, Cardinals third baseman José Fermín made a throwing error on a Dansby Swanson grounder that allowed Busch to score the go-ahead run. Pedro Ramírez then delivered a sacrifice fly for the Cubs, but a wild throw to third by Walker on the play provided an opening for Swanson to score, capping off a four-run outburst.

2. Assad’s solid performance

After a tough relief outing in his last appearance, righty Javier Assad stepped back into the Cubs’ rotation on Sunday and delivered a strong start.

Assad went with a nearly even split of his main two fastballs -- throwing his sinker 31% of the time and the four-seamer at a 30% clip -- and mixed in his other offerings enough to keep the Cardinals guessing and grounded. The righty gave Chicago 4 2/3 scoreless frames, ending with only two hits allowed.

“We attacked the zone really well. We did a really great job,” Assad said via team translator Fredy Quevedo Jr. “I think it was a good combination of everything. [Catcher Carson] Kelly did a great job of calling the pitches. … It all just came together.”

The Cardinals really only had one scoring chance against Assad, who allowed consecutive two-out singles before walking the bases loaded in the second. After a quick chat with pitching coach Tommy Hottovy on the mound, Assad induced an inning-ending popout off the bat of Bryan Torres to escape unscathed.

“He kind of lost it a little bit in the second inning,” Counsell said. “But other than that, he threw the ball really well and gave us exactly what we needed. Just a really nice effort.”

3. Bregman gets Cubs on board

Alex Bregman’s offensive struggles this season have been well-documented, but the veteran Cubs third baseman got things rolling for Chicago on Sunday.

After Pete Crow-Armstrong led off the first inning with an infield single and steal of second base, Bregman sent an offering from Liberatore into right-center for an RBI double. Later in the frame, Bregman scored via a sacrifice fly off the bat of Hoerner.

It was an encouraging breakthrough for Bregman, who entered the day leading the Majors in plate appearances with runners in scoring position (120). Going into the game, however, he was batting just .180 with a .543 OPS and 53 weighted runs created plus in those situations.

“Look, Alex is a really good player,” Counsell said. “I’m optimistic that we’ve got a really good second-half or 70 games ahead of us with Alex. It’s coming. It’s going to come. He’s too good a player. He had a big swing in the first inning.”