Chicago Cubs Offense Helpless Against St. Louis Cardinals

The Chicago Cubs series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals was a forgettable effort as the offense was blanked by Jordan Montgomery once again.

It looked like the Chicago Cubs had some life in the seventh inning. PJ Higgins and Yan Gomes lead off the inning with back-to-back singles to put runners on the corners, finally the Cubs had a runner in scoring position for the first time since the third inning.

That sequence finally chased St. Louis Cardinals starter Jordan Montgomery from the game. With St. Louis holding a 3-0 lead, reliever Jordan Hicks entered to attempt to extinguish Chicago's rally. What followed was emblematic of the Cubs day as a whole.

Hicks struck Zach McKinstry out on a slider well out of the zone for the first out, he would get Nick Madrigal to go down swinging on another slider, and finally got Seiya Suzuki to go down swinging on yet another slider outside of the zone to end the scoring threat.

That meant Chicago had once again failed to put a single run on Montgomery's line. In three starts against the Cubs with New York and St. Louis, Montgomery has pitched has surrendered not a single runs, earned or unearned, in 22 innings. 

The Cubs had opportunities, getting runners in scoring position in the first and third innings, but they never came through with a big knock off of Montgomery when they needed it.

As for the pitching performances, Chicago starter Adrian Sampson kept it as close as possible, allowing just two runs in five innings of work, bringing his season ERA down to 3.95. Javier Assad allowed his first run since being called up in his one inning of work, but both arms kept the game within reach for the Cubs.

However, following Chicago's missed opportunity in the seventh, struggling reliever Sean Newcomb entered the game in the eighth, and his fortunes would not change. Following a four-pitch walk for Yadier Molina and a Tommy Edman flyout, Cardinals outfielder Lars Nootbaar crushed a fastball for a home run to make it 5-0.

Newcomb pitched the ninth and the lefty was tagged for another three runs, this time on a first-pitch home run to Edman. That would ultimately decide the final score, making it 8-0. The 29-year-old now has a 10.27 ERA in his 23.2 innings this season and has struggled with command and the long ball. 

Chicago will look to even the series at 6:15 p.m. Saturday at Wrigley Field. The Cubs will send Drew Smyly to the mound to face Cardinals 41-year-old righty Adam Wainwright. 

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