ST. LOUIS -- When Iván Herrera went on the injured list earlier this week, he left a big hole in a Cardinals lineup that has been a bright spot this season.
While the team blasted 16 runs in the first two games in a four-game set against the Cubs, the Cardinals’ vulnerability against left-handers, especially without Herrera’s presence at cleanup, seemed to show in the final two.
For the second-straight day, the Cardinals’ bats were silenced by a Cubs southpaw as Shota Imanaga had a triumphant return from a hamstring strain and Chicago came away with a 3-0 win to split the series on Thursday.
“You look at our lineup and guys that are feeling pretty good about their swings, they're left-handed, and then we face two lefties on the back end of this four-game set, so that has something to do with it,” Cardinals manager OIiver Marmol said. “You look at Herrera being out, a guy that we like against lefties as well, so [it's] a combination of things. But, I mean, their starter yesterday did a really nice job, and their starter today also did a nice job.”
Imanaga and four Chicago relievers combined to hold the Cardinals to just three hits. St. Louis hasn’t scored in its last 22 innings after Matthew Boyd threw six scoreless innings in an 8-0 win on Wednesday for the North Siders.
The Cardinals had a chance to break through in the seventh with a pair of walks off Cubs reliever Brad Keller. Nolan Gorman launched a two-out line drive that looked to be headed to the gap, but Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong showed off his speed and made a sliding catch to end the threat.
The Cardinals also made things interesting in the ninth with an Alec Burleson double and Willson Contreras getting hit by a pitch to start the inning. But Cubs reliever Daniel Palencia earned his eighth save by striking out Nolan Arenado, Thomas Saggese and Gorman to end the game.
“I think we're good,” said Contreras, who exchanged some words with Palencia after the final out. “Just a matter of two games and we need to turn the page and focus on tomorrow.”
Cardinals starter Andre Pallante was able to keep the team in the game, despite dealing with base traffic in his first four innings. He allowed two runs on seven hits in five innings.
Michael Busch hammered a 3-2 fastball from Pallante into the right-field seats to give the Cubs a 1-0 lead in the second.
“Didn't have a great command of my four-seam fastball today,” Pallante said. “Wasn't really attacking the glove-side half, like I normally do. It was better against righties than it was against lefties, which is usually the reverse with that, so I had to rely more on my spin.”
The Cubs seemed primed to break the game open in the fourth inning after a couple of well-placed hits got through the left side of the infield to load the bases with one out. But Pallante got Matt Shaw to line out to Arenado, and after walking Ian Happ to make it 2-0, limited the damage by getting Kyle Tucker to ground out to short.
“He probably mixed as well as he's mixed all year, especially against that lineup,” Marmol said of Pallante. “That's not an easy lineup.”
The Cubs added some insurance in the eighth when Crow-Armstrong scored on a caught stealing by Dansby Swanson that went 1-3-6-3.
“You got one of the fastest guys in the league at third, and he times it up perfectly,” Marmol said. “As soon as he started to see the arm’s going forward, he took it. And there's not a play at home there.”
Any hope that Imanaga would be rusty in his return from a hamstring strain was short-lived. After surrendering the single to Winn, Imanaga retired the next 10 and 14 of the final 15 batters he faced.
The only thing that stopped Imanaga was his pitch count, as he struck out three and walked one in five efficient innings.
It was the first time the Cardinals have been shut out in consecutive games since September 19-21, 2022, when the team was held scoreless in three straight.
“We played three really good games, and then yesterday, I wouldn't count that as a good one,” Marmol said. “But as far as our style of play and how we matched up against those guys, I'm pretty pleased.”