The Cardinals defeated the Cubs by a final of 5-4 in extra innings last night.

23-year-old Jack Flaherty continued his historic second half of the season. He threw eight innings with only three hits against, one run allowed, eight strikeouts and one walk. There was a stretch where he recorded eleven straight outs. He threw his two fastest pitches of the night in his final inning, topping 98 miles per hour.

“Flaherty deserves to win the Cy Young. He has been unhittable since the All-Star Break,” senior Harrison Riebow said.

After Kolten Wong came up limping after running out a ground ball, Carpenter was inserted into the game. The veteran infielder has battled through injuries this season, and he came up in the tenth inning of a tie game. He took recently activated Cubs closer Craig Kimbrel deep to center field to give the Cardinals the lead. Paul Goldschmidt hit two doubles on the night, while Bader drove in two runs.

“Carpenter being clutch is something this team desperately needs right now. Without his bat performing, I’m not sure if the Cardinals can make the playoffs,” senior Blake Ebner said.

Closer Carlos Martinez blew his first save since early August, allowing a season high three earned runs. He was pulled after only being able to record one out. Miller held the Cubs off for the rest of the ninth to keep it a tie game. With a lead in the tenth, Gallegos struck out a batter in a scoreless inning to pick up his first save of 2019. 

“Even after the blown save, I am still very confident in Martinez as the closer. When he’s on his game, he’s unhittable,” senior Connor Price said.

Michael Wacha gets the start for St. Louis this afternoon in the second game of the series.