Cubs' offense comes alive in 9-1 victory vs. Cardinals: 'A deep breath'

ST. LOUIS – As Michael Busch jogged into home, his teammates Dansby Swanson and Matt Shaw were waiting for him on the other side of the plate, their hands raised, ready for high-fives.

When the Cubs stormed past the Cardinals 9-1 Saturday at Busch Stadium, Busch’s three-run home run in the second inning was the clearest sign of an offensive bounce-back from a shutout the night before.

Busch ambushed a hung slider from Cardinals starter Andre Pallante, hitting it on a line over into the first row in right field to give the Cubs a 5-0 lead.

“We know what we're capable of,” Busch said after the game. “You're trying to do that each and every day. No matter if we're doing really well, doing bad, just showing up and trying to put our best foot forward.”

The Cubs evened the series with their victory Saturday – although they didn’t make up any ground on the Brewers, who beat the Mets on Saturday to maintain a five-game lead in the National League Central. The Brewers extended their winning streak to eight games. They have yet to lose a game in August.

After the Cubs’ series opener against the Cardinals on Friday featured hard contact with nothing to show for it, the Cubs were finally able to piece together a few rallies Saturday, continuing the hard-hit theme.

“It's easy when you're going good to look at [Friday] and go, ‘We're hitting rockets, and tomorrow they're all going to fall,’” Cubs left fielder Ian Happ said. “It's easy when you're going bad to say, ‘Nothing's going our way.’ Just the consistency of hard contact, our lineup has been really good at that all year. On a day like today when they fall you kind of take a deep breath after that.”

Busch started the first rally, roping a line drive up the right field line. Then with one out, Kyle Tucker hit an RBI singled to right field.

Carson Kelly – who had a three-hit day, tied with Dansby Swanson for the team lead Saturday – followed him, scorching a ground ball through the right side of the field. Tucker rounded third and paused as Cardinals right fielder Jordan Walker fired to his cut-off man, in line with home plate. But the low throw got between first baseman Willson Contreras’ legs, and Tucker scored.

The next inning, Swanson beat out an infield single, and Shaw drew a walk to set up Busch’s three-run homer. It was his sixth home run this season against the Cardinals, the most any Cub has hit against St. Louis in a season since Derrek Lee in 2005, according to MLB.com.

With the bases empty, Seiya Suzuki hit a double, immediately re-applying pressure. Kelly’s line-drive single to right tacked on another run. With a 6-0 lead, the Cubs had already scored as many runs in the first two innings of the game Saturday as they had in their last two games combined.

The Cardinals pulled Pallante with two outs in the second inning.

Getting to the bullpen so quickly could have a ripple effect for the Cubs in the series finale Sunday, limiting the Cardinals’ options for the rubber match.

The move didn’t squelch the Cubs’ offensive push. Cubs rookie Matt Shaw hit an RBI triple in the third and a solo home run in the fifth, his sixth long ball since the All-Star break.

In between, Tucker drew a walk and was moved all the way around the bases by singles from Kelly and Happ.

By the time Cubs starter Colin Rea exited after the sixth inning, having held the Cardinals to one run and three hits, the Cardinals were on their third pitcher of the game.

“For them to score that many runs early kind of takes the pressure off you a little bit,” Rea said. “You don't have to be as fine when you're out there, too. So we were just trying to get some shutdown innings after we scored and get the offense right back out there as soon as possible.”