CHICAGO — Juan Yepez drove in fellow rookie Nolan Gorman in the top of the 11th inning and lefty Génesis Cabrera closed out the Cubs with four innings of relief Sunday night as the Cardinals beat rival Chicago, 5-3, for a 3-2 series victory at Wrigley Field.
Another rookie, Brendan Donovan, gave the Cardinals some insurance in the 11th with a two-out double that plated Harrison Bader. Donovan, one of an MLB-most nine Cardinals to make their MLB debuts this season, was the hero of Saturday’s 7-4 victory over the Cubs with a two-run double in the 10th inning.
A night after driving in a career-best four runs and registering the second four-hit game of his MLB career, Donovan had two hits on Sunday. Paul Goldschmidt also had two hits and extended his on-base streak to 42 games.
Down, 3-2, going into the ninth inning, Bader led off by driving a ball off the ivy-covered wall in center field for a triple. Pinch-hitter Lars Nootbaar then looped a ball over the infield for an RBI single that knotted the score at 3.
Cabrera, who surrendered the go-ahead run in the eighth on a double by P.J. Higgins, closed out the Cubs in the ninth and 10th innings with some of his best work of the season. In the 10th with the Cubs threatening to win with Willson Contreras on third base, Cabrera struck out pinch-hitter Clint Frazier and got Higgins to ground back to the mound. Cabrera, who didn’t pitch on Saturday because of an issue with a split fingernail, ended up throwing a season-high 58 pitches over four innings.
It’s the first time since June 27, 1992, that the Cardinals have played an 11-inning game while using just two pitchers (Adam Wainwright and Cabrera). It was the first time they used only two pitchers in an 11-inning win since May 7, 1986, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.