Game Recap: Cubs blast team record eight homers in rout of Cardinals

Kamil Krzaczynski - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese · Senior Writer · 15 hours ago

CHICAGO - The Chicago Cubs' (53-35) starting pitching depth continues to be tested as another starter is now on the shelf. This time, it's Jameson Taillon, who suffered a calf injury earlier in the week and is expected to miss a significant amount of time. That throws a wrench into their starting pitching plans, although Jordan Wicks was called up on Friday and will most likely make the start on Saturday.

Before the Cubs can cross that bridge, there was a game that needed to be played on Friday as the Cubs welcomed the St. Louis Cardinals (47-42) to Wrigley for to celebrate what should be a very exciting holiday weekend. Although the official Fourth of July Fireworks may not be happening until later, the Cubs provided the fans with plenty of fireworks as they connected for a franchise record eight homers, three from Michael Busch, as the Cubs destroyed a reeling Cardinals team 11-3.

Given the injury to Taillon, the pressure is on Jed Hoyer to get on the phones to make a trade, as the starting rotation is getting to the point where they don't have enough arms. Colin Rea was initially viewed as a depth piece earlier in the season, but he has instead been forced to step in for an injured Justin Steele, where he has done a decent job.

Rea may not be an overpowering pitcher, but when he is on, he is very capable of putting together a good start, which was the case on Friday as Rea gave the Cubs 6 2/3 innings of one-run baseball to earn the win. This was a crucial start for Rea, especially considering his recent struggles, but with Miles Mikolas taking the ball for the Cardinals, the pressure was on the Cubs' offense to deliver.

Talk about getting the memo, as the Cubs jumped all over Mikolas in the first inning and carried that momentum throughout the game, as he was charged with eight runs in six innings while serving up six home runs. Four of those six homers came in the first two innings, with Seiya Suzuki and Pete Crow-Armstrong going deep in the first and Michael Busch and Carson Kelly leaving the yard in the second.

The only silver lining for the Cardinals was that all four of those homers happened to be solo shots, as this was still just a 4-0 game. However, with Rea retiring the first nine hitters he faced, the panic started to set in for the Cardinals and their offense as their scoreless innings streak approached 32 innings.

Already with four homers under their belts, the Cubs continued to play long ball in the third, with Crow-Armstrong adding his second solo shot in as many at-bats, only to have Dansby Swanson follow that with the Cubs' first non-homer of the game with a single. Busch kept the line moving with his second homer in as many at-bats as the Cubs built up a 7-0 lead through three innings on the strength of six homers.

After watching Rea retire the first nine batters of the game, the Cardinals put an end to that in style with Brendan Donovan connecting for the Cardinals' first and only homer of the game to make this a 7-1 game. Rea bounced back in a big way to retire the final three hitters he faced in that inning and went on to retire nine of the next 10 men he faced to keep the Cardinals offense in check.

With the Cubs failing to score in the fourth after playing long-ball the first three innings, they got right back to work in the fifth as they continued to tee off on Mikolas. This was one of those games where the Cardinals needed some length from him, so he was forced to take it on the chin. With Crow-Armstrong reaching base for a third time with a one-out single, Busch provided the only non-homer RBI of the ball game for the Cubs as he delivered an RBI single to push the Cubs' lead to 8-1.

As tough as things were for the Cardinals' offense most of the game, they started to make a little noise in the seventh as Rea walked Alec Burleson to start things off with the heart of the Cardinals lineup waiting to deliver. Rea came close to getting out of that inning only to have an error allow Nolan Arenado to reach base, which was also the end of the line for Rea. Caleb Thielbar took over from there to close out the seventh, as the Cubs were still in firm control in this one.

By the time the bottom of the seventh rolled around, you could see the Cardinals waving the White Flag as they began to substitute several players in the field. That included making their first pitching change of the day in John King, who was immediately greeted by another PCA hit for his fourth hit of the day.

If that wasn't good enough, why not have Swanson and Busch go back to the Cubs' seventh and eighth homers of the game as Chicago opened up an 11-1 lead. It was the third time in the game that the Cubs went back-to-back, as the hits continued to come for the offense. St. Louis did manage to pick up a pair of runs in the ninth off Jon Berti before Victor Scott III ended the game with a bases-loaded flyout to give Chicago an 11-3 victory.

With the win, the Cubs have now won four straight games to kick off their homestand and have moved to a season-best 18 games above .500.

The Cubs will look to clinch the series tomorrow as Matthew Liberatore takes the ball against TBA, although it does appear that Wicks will make the start in place of Taillon.