Ivan Herrera lifts Cardinals to walk-off win over Cubs with two-run double in 10th inning
Published in Baseball
ST. LOUIS — After the Cubs broke open a scoreless game in the 10th inning to take a 2-0 lead thanks to a swing from their All-Star outfielder, the Cardinals got a response from one of their All-Stars to lead them to a victory on Wednesday night at Busch Stadium.
Cardinals All-Star slugger Ivan Herrera lifted the Cardinals to a 3-2 win over the Cubs with a two-run double that came with one out in the bottom of the 10th inning. The two-run double off Trent Thornton responded to the two-run homer Chicago All-Star Pete Crow-Armstrong hit in the top of the 10th inning off rookie reliever Luis Gastelum.
In the bottom of the 10th, the Cardinals loaded the bases with no outs and had Jordan Walker up to bat after Lars Nootbaar singled and JJ Wetherholt walked. Walker grounded into a forceout to bring in a run before Herrera brought in two more runs to earn the Cardinals a walk-off win that finished a game that began with a pitchers' duel.
In what could have been his final start for the Cardinals with Monday’s trade deadline looming, starter Dustin May spun his fourth scoreless outing of the year. May, who signed a one-year deal with the Cardinals this past winter, completed five scoreless innings on 70 pitches. He allowed one hit and walked two in what marked his first appearance in a Cardinals-Cubs game.
The only hit May allowed came on a double Alex Bregman hit to right-center field with two outs in the fourth inning.
The scoreless effort May turned in ahead of Major League Baseball’s trade deadline continued with innings by Justin Bruihl, Ryne Stanek, George Soriano and Riley O’Brien. The scoreless pitching, however, was not supported by offense.
Cardinals hitters were held to four hits and two walks over seven innings by Cubs starter Matthew Boyd. Jacob Webb and Caleb Thielbar each chipped in a scoreless inning.
A two-out double in the ninth inning from Blaze Jordan gave the Cardinals a chance to break the stalemate before it reached extras, but that opportunity ended with Nathan Church popping up.
Finishing strong
May worked his first four innings without much trouble. The right-hander needed 56 pitches to record the first 12 outs of his start. The only blemishes on his pitching line over that stretch came in his first and third innings.
May issued a one-out walk to Seiya Suzuki with one out in the first but got a soft lineout and the first of his three strikeouts to work around the free pass. And with two outs in the third inning, May saw Bregman double to the right-center field gap. Bregman’s double, which was out of reach of a diving Nathan Church, was the first and only hit May allowed to a Cubs hitter on Wednesday night.
The finish to his outing had much of the same effectiveness it started.
The right-hander issued a leadoff walk to Michael Conforto on four pitches, the third of which was overturned after Conforto challenged it. In the next at-bat, May placed a 95.4-mph four-seam fastball and a 92.1-mph cutter on the edges of the strike zone welcome Pedro Ramirez and had both fouled off. After showing Ramirez his change-up twice, his sweeper once, and his four-seam fastball once more, May coaxed a groundout of Ramirez with a curveball.
Working with a runner in scoring position for just the second time on the night, May made quick work of Dansby Swanson and Miguel Amaya. He retired the two on groundouts.
Two-out chances fade
After seeing Boyd work efficiently and effectively in the strike zone to begin his outing, the Cardinals' scoring chances against the lefty faded in the fifth and sixth frames.
In the fifth inning, an errant 1-2 curveball from Boyd hit Church on the helmet. Pedro Pages worked a six-pitch walk in the at-bat that followed to give leadoff hitter Wetherholt a chance to hit with two runners on base.
Wetherholt worked a 10-pitch at-bat against Boyd to work his pitch count to 65 after it sat at 41 at the start of the fifth inning, but he could not produce a result that reflected in the runs column. The Cardinals’ second baseman grounded out to end the inning.
An inning later, singles by Walker and Alec Burleson and a two-out walk by Jose Fermin gave the Cardinals another chance to break through versus Boyd.
After Wetherholt’s lengthy at-bat left the Cardinals with no runs to show for it, a quick at-bat by Jordan left them without a run to show for their efforts. The rookie third baseman swung at the first pitch Boyd offered him and popped it into foul territory.
Stanek escapes seventh
Innings after May walked off the mound for what could have been his last outing as a Cardinal, Stanek’s effort to get through the seventh inning allowed him a similar exit with uncertainty ahead.
One of the trade deadline pieces the Cardinals possess, Stanek entered to start the seventh inning. He retired the first two batters he faced before command evaded him, leading to walks to Conforto and Ramirez. The 2-0 count he started Swanson in continued to complicate the inning before swings and misses solved the problem.
Stanek fired three consecutive four-seam fastballs by Swanson, two of which got chases, to strike out the Cubs shortstop. The third of the three fastballs reached 99.1 mph.
©2026 STLtoday.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.






Comments