The Chicago Cubs bullpen almost blew Friday's game against the St. Louis Cardinals and not only would it had been brutal to waste another good start from Justin Steele, but it would have been one of the final nails in the coffin heading into the trade deadline. Well, we can delay that for at least a bit longer after the home plate ump flat out screwed the Cardinals, allowing the Cubs to come out with a miracle 4-3 win.
Michael Fulmer came in to pitch the eighth inning, as the Cubs were clinging to a one-run lead and he immediately sent Cubs fans into panic mode with a five-pitch walk to the first batter he faced. It didn't get better with the second hitter of the inning, as Fulmer ended up walking Jordan Walker after he began the plate appearance ahead in the count at 0-2. Fulmer struck out Paul DeJong for the first out and then he was taken out, replaced by Mark Leiter Jr.
Brendan Donovan walked to load the bases and that brought up Alec Burleson. And then home plate umpire Ron Kulpa became the Cubs player of the game. On a 3-0 count, Kulpa basically gave Leiter Jr. the auto strike on a pitch off the plate. The 3-1 call was even worse and then Burleson grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Oh yeah, you bet Cardinals fans are pissed off.
It wasn't easy in the ninth inning, but thanks to a great play from Seiya Suzuki, the Cubs were able to close out the game after an error and a two-out HBP that put the tying and go-ahead runs on base.
The Cubs snapped the Cardinals' six-game losing streak.
Cody Bellinger had another multi-hit game and his two-run home run in the third inning ended up being the difference on Friday.
Bellinger went 3-for-4, with the two-run homer, a double and he also singled. The left-handed hitter has been on fire since June 24, going 38-for-86, which is a .442 batting average in 23 games.
During the month of July, Bellinger is hitting .462 with a 1.293 OPS, with six home runs and 15 RBI.
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