Alec Burleson was a triple shy of the cycle, bringing home eight of the St Louis Cardinals’ runs in an 11-4 drubbing of the Chicago Cubs on Sunday, Aug. 16 at Wrigley Field.
Burleson opened the scoring for the Cardinals with a one-out, two-run home run to right-center field. He would single home a run in a six-run fourth inning, while adding a double in the sixth inning. Meanwhile, Jordan Walker capped the fourth with a two-run blast, to go with his two doubles including another pair of RBIs in the sixth. Blaze Jordan brought home a run in the second with a single. JJ Wetherholt received an RBI after earning a bases-loaded walk to start the fourth, which was followed by Iván Herrera’s sacrifice fly.
The Cubs had six hits, including Pete Crow-Armstrong’s two-run jolt to right-center field in the third that made it a 3-2 game. Tyrone Taylor added a sacrifice fly in the eighth to score Seiya Suzuki, and Miguel Amaya had a solo home run with one out in the ninth.
Hunter Dobbins improved to 3-3 on the year, going just over five innings and allowing two runs on two hits and four walks, striking out seven. Edward Cabrera lasted just 3.2 innings in the loss, allowing seven runs on six hits and three walks, fanning a pair.
The Cardinals are 63-61, still 3.5 games behind the Diamondbacks and Phillies for the second wild card spot in the National League. The road trip continues Monday afternoon in Cincinnati, where the Cardinals will have a day-night doubleheader featuring a make-up of May 24th’s game. First pitch from Great American Ballpark is at 12:40 p.m., with the second game set for 5:40 p.m.