The Chicago Cubs matched up against the St. Louis Cardinals in London on 06/24 (Alex Morton/Getty Images)
The Chicago Cubs got off to an early start against the rival St. Louis Cardinals in the first game of the London Series. A majestic Ian Happ home run in the second inning started off the scoring.
The bottom half of the order went on to score another run in the second, then the Cubs scored three runs in the third and another two in the fourth.
The Cardinals got on the board for the first and only time
Justin Steele was the starting pitcher for the Cubs. His courageous beard may be as uneven as his cutting fastball but they both unapologetically get the job done. By the end of the game, he matched his season high in strikeouts with eight. Steele has gone right back to chewing up batters and spitting them out after his injury.
By the sixth inning, every one of the starters had found a hit except Seiya Suzuki, who couldn’t find one afterward either. He was hitless on the day. In the bottom of the same inning, the Cardinals got on the board for the first and only time while grabbing three consecutive hits.
The NL Central is a turbulent division. At around the same time the once leading Pirates hit a brick wall, the Reds couldn’t stop winning. They went into the day with 12 straight wins and leading the pack. Frontrunners holding the division lead all season long may be a thing from yesteryear with the new rules driving baseball.
Contreras was ineffective at the plate
The Cardinals, who are off to their worst start in 142 years, continue to struggle. They’re not getting much help from some of their recently acquired talent. Willson Contreras is off to a near embarrassing start for them. He was removed from the catching rotation and assigned to DH and OF just 34 games into the season. They started him in London at catcher with a .207 batting average and he was ineffective at the plate yet again going 0-4 with a strikeout.
The announcer even predicted a first pitch swing before his fourth at bat. This was surely because his first three at bats were first pitch swings. The prediction came to fruition and Contreras popped out to the delight of Cubs’ fans everywhere.
Happ hit his second home run and now has six against Adam Wainwright. Wainwright didn’t have his best stuff and gave up six runs before leaving the game and another while he was watching.
Dansby Swanson also got in on the action with a home run. He continues to have an amazing season after an illustrious career with the Atlanta Braves.
It was 9-1 after the last pitch was thrown. The Cubs have won nine of their last 10 games. They’ll square off against the Cardinals again tomorrow for game two at 9:10 AM CDT on ESPN.
