Chicago Cubs Score and Recap (7/30/26): Cubs 4, Cardinals 2 F/10 – Extra-Inning Win Takes Series in St. Louis
The Cubs and Cardinals played a very tight contest at Busch Stadium Thursday afternoon that required extra innings for the second consecutive day. The road team grabbed the lead in the top of the 10th, but unlike Wednesday, they did not squander it in the bottom half winning the game and the series.
St. Louis went in front against Javier Assad on an RBI single by Bryan Torres in the bottom of the 2nd inning. Chicago tied the score on an unusual play in the 4th when Alex Bregman tagged up from second base on a fly out by Ian Happ. Right fielder Lars Nootbaar made a wild throw back to the infield that missed the cutoff man and allowed Bregman to scamper home.
Michael Busch put the North Siders ahead 2-1 with a run-scoring single off of George Soriano in the top of the 7th inning. The Cards responded in the bottom half when JJ Wetherholt took Caleb Thielbar deep for a game-tying solo home run.
The Cubs came through in the top of the 10th when Bregman and Happ hit back-to-back RBI doubles against Luis Gastelum to make it 4-2. Jacob Webb and Aaron Civale combined to keep St. Louis off the board in the bottom half to seal the victory. (Box score)
Key Moment
Chicago squeezed out one more effective inning of relief to hang on for the win, which they could not do on Wednesday.
Why the Cubs Won
The pitching was good enough to keep them in the game and give the hitters a chance to take it in extra innings.
Stats That Matter
- Assad did a nice job per usual in a spot start: 4.1 IP, 1 R, 6 H, 6 K, and 2 BB.
- Bregman had two more doubles.
- Nico Hoerner collected three hits.
Bottom Line
The Cubs had a very successful road trip and recovered very nicely from a difficult loss on Wednesday. Bregman’s sudden revitalization will be a major boost if he can sustain it. Chicago’s bullpen continues to be a source of stress and could definitely use several reinforcements.
On Deck
The Cubs return to Wrigley Field for a three-game series against the Yankees starting Friday at 1:20pm CT. Shōta Imanaga is on the bump again Will Warren in a matchup broadcast on Marquee with a radio feed on The Score.
