For the second straight day the Cubs had a decision of what to do in extra innings with Albert Pujols at the plate in a tie game. They made the wrong decision two days in a row. Pujols lead off the botton of the 10th inning with a long homerun to give the Cardinals a 3-2 victory and a sweep over the Cubs.
Carlos Zambrano was fantastic as usual in St Louis. Zambrano went seven solid innings giving up just one run on five hits. The Cubs (23-34) righty has still not lost in St. Louis since 2003. This was Zambrano’s second great start in a week and both times he didn’t figure in the win thanks to blown saves by Carlos Marmol.
Marmol gave up a two out RBI double to former Cub Ryan Theriot with two outs in the ninth to tie the game. This was the first run Marmol had given up on the road in 26.1 innings which was a franchise record.
Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter lived up to that title on Sunday. Although Carpenter didn’t figure in on the decision, he pitched nine strong innings giving up two runs on seven hits.
Fernando Salas pitched a perfect 10th inning for St Louis (36-25) to improve his record to 3-0 on the season. Rodrigo Lopez got the loss for the Cubs. Lopez (0-1) lasted just four pitches and gave up the winning homer to Pujols.
The Cubs now head to Cincinnati to continue their ten game trip.