 for his second career grand slam. Tommy Edman had three hits and Kolten Wong scored four runs.Flaherty threw 41 pitches, walked two and exited with the bases loaded after hitting Nico Hoerner with an 0-2 pitch. Austin Gomber struck out Happ to end that threat and escaped another bases-loaded jam in the third when Jason Kipnis grounded out.Tyler Webb (1-1) got four outs and the Cardinals got back to winning after dropping two straight to the NL Central leaders. Baseball's seven-inning doubleheader format, implemented this season to help teams push through a frequently disrupted 60-game schedule, allowed St. Louis to use four relievers for 1 1/3 innings apiece after Flaherty's exit. No team has been more disrupted than the Cardinals, who were sidelined for 15 days by a COVID-19 outbreak.John Gant and Ricardo Sanchez finished the game for the Cardinals, with Sanchez allowing the Cubs' only other hit - Josh Phegley's two-run homer in the seventh.The Cardinals will try to cap this unusual five-game, three-day series with a doubleheader sweep. The teams split two seven-inning games Monday.Happ hit the right field video board with his team-leading sixth homer - and third in four games. Mills lasted lasted 3 2/3 innings, allowing six runs and seven hits.''Just one of those days where I didn't have the feel for much out there,'' Mills said. ''I wasn't able to throw many pitches for strikes today. Fastball command wasn't as good as it has been. Made the wrong pitch to Carpenter. He just hit it out of the yard. He did what he was supposed to, so not good.'' TRAINER'S ROOMCardinals: Manger Mike Shildt expects C Yadier Molina to return soon, while INF Paul DeJong might need more time. Both players, along with INF Rangel Ravelo and RHP Kodi Whitley, have been working out after being cleared by Major League Baseball. All four were sidelined by COVID-19. Shildt said Molina was asymptomatic. ... LF Tyler O'Neill was in the lineup after being scratched Tuesday with a hand issue.Cubs: 3B Kris Bryant missed his second consecutive game after getting an injection Tuesday for his ailing left wrist. The 2016 NL MVP was hurt on a diving attempt on Cesar Hernandez's flare to left field in the fifth inning of a 7-2 victory at Cleveland last week. ... LHP Jose Quintana (thumb surgery) is scheduled to throw a simulated game on Friday.GOMBER ACTIVATEDThe Cardinals activated Gomber from the injured list and optioned RHP Ryan Meisinger to their alternate training site. Gomber was placed on the IL because of a potential concern in contact tracing, though he did not test positive for the coronavirus.UP NEXTCardinals: RHP Johan Oviedo was called up to start Game 2 in his major league debut. Oviedo was a combined 12-8 with a 4.73 in 29 appearances (28 starts) at Class A and Double-A last season.Cubs: The Cubs recalled RHP Adbert Alzolay from the club's alternate site in South Bend, Indiana, to start Game 2. Alzolay was 1-1 with a 7.30 ERA in four appearances - two starts - with the Cubs last season.---More MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Cardinals face Cubs in 3rd DH in five daysA grueling schedule will continue for the St. Louis Cardinals as they play their third doubleheader in five days when they take on the Chicago Cubs for a pair of games Wednesday.The Cardinals are scrambling to make up games after a COVID-19 outbreak forced the team to sit idle for more than two weeks. St. Louis is 3-3 since returning to play, but the barrage of games has taken a toll on the pitching staff.Cardinals veteran infielder Matt Carpenter said he and his teammates have embraced the challenge of the schedule."If we do make the playoffs, I think it would be an amazing story of perseverance, grit and nothing short of a miracle, to be honest," Carpenter recently said to reporters. "We're basically playing like we have nothing to lose because we really don't. I mean, not a lot of people expect a lot out of us, given the circumstances and what we've been through -- the layoff, (and) we've got guys on our roster that we're usually counting on that aren't here with us."So nobody's expecting anything out of us, and sometimes that's a good place to be in mentally, when you don't have any expectations and you can just go out there and play." On Wednesday, as was the case Monday, the Cubs will be the home team in the first game of the doubleheader but will serve as the road team in the nightcap. That is because the second game is a makeup contest from an Aug. 7-9 series that had been planned for Busch Stadium in St. Louis.The Cubs went 106 years without batting first in a game in Wrigley Field. Now, they will do so twice in three days.One player who will not be in the lineup for the Cubs is Kris Bryant, who received an injection on his ailing left wrist Tuesday. The three-time All-Star is expected to be out of the lineup until at least Friday.Right-hander Jack Flaherty (1-0, 2.57 ERA) is scheduled to make the start in the afternoon game for St. Louis. Flaherty is 3-2 with a 2.70 ERA in 10 games (nine starts) against the Cubs during his career.For Chicago, right-hander Alec Mills (2-1, 2.84) is penciled in as the afternoon starter, although it is possible that he could be shifted to the evening start. Mills is 0-0 with a 1.98 ERA in four games (two starts) against the Cardinals.Neither team named its second starter for the doubleheader as of late Tuesday. A bullpen game could be in store for one or both sides as Cubs manager David Ross and Cardinals manager Mike Schildt look to divvy up the workload.Ross and his coaching staff also have welcomed a closer-by-committee approach in the early part of the season. Reliever Rowan Wick posted his fourth save in Tuesday's 6-3 win, but several other relievers including Craig Kimbrel and Jeremy Jeffress, also could fill the closer's role."I do absolutely believe right now that's the best way to go," Cubs pitching coach Tommy Hottovy recently said. "I think just having a group of guys out there that you trust and that want the ball in any situation is just going to lead to us having more success. And I think those guys understand that we trust them all in a lot of different situations." --Field Level Media
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