Cardinals at Cubs recap 7.27 - Cards win series; pick up a game in the standings.

St. Louis Cardinals at Chicago Cubs

Adam Wainwright (12-5, 2.02 ERA, 2.60 FIP) vs. Kyle Hendricks (1-0, 2.77 ERA, 3.91 FIP)

1:20 p.m. CT

Wrigley Field - Chicago, Illinois

Today's Lineups

Cardinals vs Cubs coverage

ST. LOUIS CARDINALS	CHICAGO CUBS
Matt Carpenter - 3B	Emilio Bonifacio - 2B
Kolten Wong - 2B	Arismendy Alcantara - CF
Matt Holliday - LF	Anthony Rizzo - 1B
Matt Adams - 1B	Starlin Castro - SS
Jhonny Peralta - SS	Luis Valbuena - 3B
A.J. Pierzynski - C	Chris Coghlan - LF
Oscar Taveras - RF	Welington Castillo - C
Jon Jay - CF	Ryan Sweeney - RF
Adam Wainwright - RHP	Kyle Hendricks - RHP

Some News-

• The 2014 Baseball Hall of Fame Class has been inducted - MLB.com
• The Milwaukee Brewers fell to the New York Mets 2-0 - MLB.com
• The Pittsburgh Pirates take on the Rockies in Denver - MLB.com
• The Cincinnati Reds lose one to the Washington Nationals 4-2 - MLB.com

Against the opponent (before this game)-

all-time record (1132 - 1185)

2013 (12-7)
2014 (6-5)

Today's game was the 2337th regular season bout between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs

The last time these teams played on July 27 was in 2012.  The Cards won 9-6 with a homer party.  Matt Holliday, Yadier Molina, Lance Berkman, Matt Carpenter, and Allen Craig all homered.

Things we were looking for-

In Aaron's series preview, he noted that today's starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks is getting a shot because of the recent Samardzija/Hammel trade.  He also painted a rosy picture of the Cubs' future.  They could be pretty scary.  For this series:

So. Watch Arrieta, watch Alcantara, watch Rizzo, and watch Castro.

Things that happened-

Top Halves-

The Cards put a run on the board in the first.  Matt Carpenter led off the game with a single, but was erased in a double play ball from Kolten Wong.  Matt Holliday put the Cards ahead with a solo homer just over the ivy.  Cards lead 1-0.

In the second, new Cardinal catcher A.J. Pierzynski continued his great start by knocking a double into the right field corner.  He was stranded on third.

In the third, Matt Carpenter tried to stretch a single into a double.  The throw came in from Arismendy Alcantara and beat Carpenter by a mile.  Carpenter, however, fell/slid in a funny way that made him think he avoided the tag.  Matheny tried to get the video review system to back him up but the call was upheld.

The bats were pretty quiet the next few innings.  Holliday followed up his homer with a swinging bunt hit to lead off the fourth.  Wong singled in the sixth.  Jhonny Peralta singled in the seventh.  This prompted a pitching change.  Wesley Wright came in to replace Hendricks.  Hendricks' final line: 6 1/3 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 94 pitches thrown.

Taveras greeted Wright with a single to left.  Then, Wright hit Jay with a pitch.  Adam Wainwright was sent up to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs.  He wasn't able to help himself out, although he nearly did so.  He sent a liner up the first base line.  Unfortunately, Anthony Rizzo was standing right there to end the threat.

Pedro Strop pitched the eighth, giving up a single to Carpenter.

Bottom Halves-

Waino rolled through the first couple innings.  He was aided by a rangy play by Matt Carpenter in the second.

To lead off the third, Wellington Castillo knocked a double off the ivy.  Jon Jay almost caught it but looked really uncomfortable approaching the greenery.  Wainwright worked around the hit, though, stranding Wellington at third.

In the fourth, Anthony Rizzo, much like Carpenter in the third, tried to stretch a single into a double, and much like Carpenter, was unsuccessful.  Oscar Taveras missed a shoe-string catch to take away the hit, but quickly recovered to throw Rizzo out at second.  There was no need for video review for this one, though!

Jay redeemed himself for the non-play on Castillo's ball by tracking a Luis Valbuena liner all the way to the wall and gloving it for an out.  Wainwright also started to waver in his command in this inning, walking two (one intentional), and taking another to a full count, before striking out his counterpart Hendricks to end the inning.  He used 28 pitches to get through the inning.

Alcantara and Rizzo singled in the sixth.  A nifty 6-4-3 double play ended the threat.  Wong made a nice turn with Rizzo bearing down on him Matt Holliday-style.

The seventh was a little nerve wracking for Wainwright.  Valbuena singled.  Sweeney walked.  But the ace persevered, getting the Nate Schierholtz groundout he needed to end the Cubs' seventh.  That was Wainwright's day.  His final line: 7.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 98 pitches thrown.

Kevin Siegrist mowed through the top of the Cubs order in the eighth.

Wong made a fantastic play and an ordinary one to get two of Trevor Rosenthal's outs.  Chris Coghlan found a hole up the middle with a grounder for a single, but Rosenthal struck out Wellington Castillo to save the 1-0 game.

Final Notes-

• Wainwright looked great early, and although he struggled with his command at times, was able to keep runs off the board.  He won his MLB-leading 13th game.
• Rosenthal collected his MLB-leading 32nd save.
• Fangraphs WPA Graph
• Gamenotes: Cards; Cubs

Looking ahead-

Tune in Tuesday as the Cards head to San Diego.  Lance Lynn will be opposed by Tyson Ross.  Gametime is 9:10 CT.