Matthew Liberatore and Hunter Dobbins teamed up to limit the Chicago Cubs to just seven hits and a walk, leading the host St. Louis Cardinals to a 5-1 victory Sunday night to take the rubber match of the three-game rivalry series.
JJ Wetherholt and Ivan Herrera both went 2-for-3 with two runs and a walk, and Alec Burleson and Masyn Winn both drove in a pair for the Cardinals, who won for just the second time in their last seven games.
The Cardinals got to Cubs starter Jordan Wicks immediately. They opened the bottom of the first with consecutive singles by Wetherholt, Herrera and Jordan Walker to take a 1-0 lead before Wicks could get the first out. Two batters later, Burleson got jammed, with the ball landing between the pitcher’s mound and second base. Alex Bregman came across to throw out the batter, but Herrera scored to double the lead.
Wetherholt got his second single to start the third and chase Wicks. Ethan Roberts gave up a hit to Herrera before retiring the next two hitters. However, Burleson and Winn both delivered two-out singles to make it 5-0.
Wicks (0-2) struggled again in his second start since being called up from Triple-A Iowa a week ago. He gave up four hits and three runs in two-plus innings with just one strikeout.
Meanwhile, Liberatore (3-3) escaped his first-inning jam and dominated from there. He allowed singles to Nico Hoerner and Pete Crow-Armstrong to start the game, but then allowed just a hit and a walk from there, retiring 16 of the final 18 batters he faced.
In 5 1/3 innings, Liberatore struck out four and walked one.
Dobbins, whom the Cardinals brought up from Triple-A Memphis earlier in the day, gave up a solo homer to Bregman, the first batter he faced. However, he then allowed just three more hits.
Dobbins, who started in 12 of his first 14 major league appearances, pitched 3 2/3 innings and also struck out four to notch his first career save.
Bregman’s homer was the fifth of the year for the Cubs third baseman. Michael Busch went 2-for-4 for Chicago, which was 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
