Chicago Cubs Score and Recap (6/24/25): Cardinals 8, Cubs 7 – Mental Mistakes Doom Cubs at Busch
The Cubs and Cardinals got together for the second game of their series at Busch Stadium Tuesday night. Another bad starting pitching effort and a big mental mistake cost Chicago a victory.
Lars Nootbaar took Jameson Taillon deep in the bottom of the 2nd to give the Cards a 2-0 lead. The North Siders stormed back with five runs in the top of the 3rd against starter Michael McGreevy. Kyle Tucker hit a two-run single to tie the score and Seiya Suzuki whacked a laser-beam three-run shot to left that put the road team ahead 5-2.
Taillon’s struggles did not let up in the bottom of the frame, with Masyn Winn hitting a two-run jack that cut the St. Louis deficit to 5-4. The Cardinals went back on top with a four-run 4th inning that began with a game-tying solo shot by Nolan Gorman.
Winn kept up his tremendous night with a two-run double that gave the Redbirds a 7-5 advantage with one out. Alec Burleson then hit a deep fly ball to Pete Crow-Armstrong, who assumed there were two outs and did not throw the ball back in immediately. The Cardinals shortstop never stopped running from second and came all the way around to score on a two-base sacrifice fly.
That run would turn out to be very important as Nico Hoerner hit his first homer of the season to get the Cubs within 8-7 in the 6th inning. Chicago got the tying run to third base twice in the final three frames but could not push it across and they lost their third consecutive game by one run. (Box score)
Key Moment
The Cubs had runners on first and third with one out in the top of the 7th and Crow-Armstrong up at the plate. PCA attempted to bunt for a base hit and it went right to pitcher Steven Matz, who threw him out without a run scoring. Dansby Swanson then flew out and the game remained 8-7.
Why the Cubs Lost
This is the second consecutive game in which the starting pitcher allowed eight runs, which is not a great trend. It’s very hard to win if you are giving away runs with mental mistakes.
Stats That Matter
- Taillon had nothing Tuesday and got hit very hard: 4 IP, 8 R, 8 H, 3 K, 2 BB.
- Hoerner had three hits and stole a base.
- Tucker also had three hits, as did Suzuki.
Bottom Line
The Cubs rotation is in its biggest slump of the season right now, and that’s making it hard to win games. No team goes an entire season without struggling and that is where Chicago is right now. The good news is they are going to be playing better eventually. PCA is a tremendous player and it can be easy to forget he is still very young and is going to make mistakes.
On Deck
The Cubs try to stop their slide Wednesday night at 6:45pm CT. Matthew Boyd faces off against Erick Fedde in a contest airing on Marquee with the radio feed on 670 The Score.
