ST. LOUIS -- The players inside the Cubs’ clubhouse began their day Monday by learning that starter Jameson Taillon -- a well-respected veteran and leader -- had been designated for assignment. It was the latest unexpected turn for a Chicago team that has weathered plenty of storms this season.
Through all the peaks and valleys, the Cubs have continued to pick up wins to remain in the thick of the National League playoff picture. That held true on Monday night, as the North Siders pieced together a 7-3 victory over the rival Cardinals at Busch Stadium behind a solid start from David Peterson and a four-hit game apiece from Alex Bregman and Nico Hoerner.
“Look, I think we have shown that we can play at a high level,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “The best thing about a Major League season is you can’t fake your record, man, over 162 games. It’s too many games. And so, I feel like the teams that get to October, they’ve earned it. And we’ve got a long way to go.”
Here were three keys to Monday’s win:
1. Bregman flirts with a cycle
Bregman has achieved a lot over the course of his career, but the veteran third baseman has never hit for the cycle. In Monday’s win over the Cardinals, Bregman borrowed Dansby Swanson’s bat and finished a triple shy of a cycle.
He sparked the Cubs’ offense at multiple turns.
“I felt a lot better today,” Bregman said. “I felt like I was on ‘go’ every single pitch, and able to shut down on pitches I didn’t want to hit and swing at the ones I wanted to drive. I felt like I was using the whole field. I felt more inside the ball today than I’ve felt in a long time.”
Bregman said he was intentional about moving his hands farther back in his swing and he choked up on one of Swanson’s bats, which are a little heavier than what he uses. The idea was to slow himself down a touch in order to get more “on plane” deeper in the zone.
In the first inning, Bregman snapped out of an 0-for-12 slump with the second of consecutive doubles with Seiya Suzuki, putting the Cubs on the board. He then belted a sinker from lefty Matthew Liberatore to right for a leadoff homer in the third. Bregman added an opposite-field single off righty Hunter Dobbins in the fifth, paving the way for a two-run single from Hoerner.
In the ninth, Bregman sent a Dobbins pitch into right field once again, but the triple was not in the cards. The third baseman finished off his night with another double and his first four-hit game since April 15, 2025. That last hit came ahead of a two-run homer from Hoerner that put the game away for Chicago.
“Really different types of swings,” Hoerner said of Bregman’s night. “He’s one of the best bat-to-ball hitters in our game. I’m excited to see him keep going.”
2. Another solid Peterson start
Peterson entered Monday’s outing with a 5.57 ERA through four starts since being acquired via trade, but that overall figure is misleading. Ten of Peterson’s 13 earned runs allowed in that span came in one start gone horribly awry.
That rough performance came on July 3 against the Cardinals, so this game in St. Louis presented a good bounceback challenge for Peterson. He responded with 5 2/3 innings, in which he was charged with two runs (one scoring after his exit).
“I definitely remember the start I had against them at Wrigley,” Peterson said. “Not that that changed anything, but I definitely wanted to get out there and give us a good start and execute my pitches. I felt like we were able to learn some stuff, clean some stuff up from the last time I saw them. That was good to see.”
The Cardinals’ only breakthrough with Peterson on the hill came in the second inning, when José Fermín connected with a four-seamer for a two-out, solo homer to left field. The Cubs' lefty generated nine outs via grounders and finished with three strikeouts and two walks.
“David pitched really, really well,” Counsell said. “I obviously haven’t seen a lot of David when he was at his best [with the Mets], but the ground balls and kind of the swings at the sinker, it feels like this is what it looks like. It was good to see.”
3. Hoerner heating up
There have been signs that Hoerner was possibly turning a corner offensively, and he kept that momentum going in the win over the Cardinals with a four-hit showing of his own.
The two-run single in the fifth inning helped swing the game the Cubs’ way. In the second, he led off with a single to right off Liberatore and later scored via an RBI single from Miguel Amaya. Hoerner added a two-out single in the seventh and capped off his night with the two-run blast off Dobbins in the ninth. He entered Monday with a homerless drought of 321 at-bats dating back to April 21.
Hoerner has now hit at a .432 (19-for-44) clip over his past 10 games for the Cubs after batting .139 (5-for-36) in the first 10 games this month.
“Nico had a really good night,” Counsell said. “He’s kind of owed some of those nights, in my eyes. The home run’s a bonus. He got some balls to fall in. Nico and Alex both had really big nights and kind of did the offensive damage tonight.”