Miller delivers Cards win over Cubs in G1 of twinbill

Brad Miller hit a tiebreaking, two-run double in the top of the seventh inning and the St. Louis Cardinals held on for a 3-1 win over the host Chicago Cubs on Monday afternoon in the first game of a doubleheader.

Brad Miller hit a tiebreaking, two-run double in the top of the seventh inning and the St. Louis Cardinals held on for a 3-1 win over the host Chicago Cubs on Monday afternoon in the first game of a doubleheader. Miller's deep line drive to the gap landed just beyond the glove of Cubs center field Albert Almora Jr., who tried to make a diving catch to preserve the tie in a shortened seven-inning game.

The Cardinals improved to 3-1 since returning from a long layoff as the team dealt with an outbreak of COVID-19 among players and staff members. The Cubs dropped their fourth game in a row. All of those losses have come by one or two runs.

Cardinals right-hander Giovanny Gallegos (1-0) earned the victory after pitching a scoreless inning of relief. Fellow reliever Andrew Miller delivered a flawless ninth inning to pick up his second save. Cubs right-hander Kyle Hendricks (3-2) took the loss after allowing three runs on three hits in 6 1/3 innings. He walked one and struck out five.

The Cardinals loaded the bases with nobody out in the top of the seventh. Paul Goldschmidt led off the inning with a double to left-center field, Tyler O'Neill drew a walk and Matt Carpenter lashed a hard-hit single to right field. That brought rookie Dylan Carlson to the plate, but Cubs shortstop Javier Baez fielded his ground ball up the middle and fired a throw home to retire Goldschmidt for the force out. Miller then stepped to the plate and delivered a go-ahead hit to score O'Neill and Carpenter.

St. Louis grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning on Dexter Fowler's solo shot to right field. He connected on an 0-1 fastball and sent it over the right-field wall for his second home run of the season and the 125th of his career. In the bottom of the fourth, Chicago evened the score at 1-1 on a solo homer by Ian Happ. It was his fourth home run, which ranks second on the team behind Anthony Rizzo (five).

--Field Level Media