The St. Louis Cardinals are playing in unfamiliar territory come this time of the year, as they have yet to fully decide if they are buyer or sellers at this Tuesday's 4:00pm trade deadline. They remain around .500, but recorded their second straight big win over their rivals, the Chicago Cubs, on Saturday afternoon. Marcell Ozuna connected with a first-inning grand slam, as the Cards took out the first-place Cubs, 6-2, at Busch Stadium.
Ozuna's slam was his second of the year, and was part of a six-run first inning that got the Cards going. Jose Martinez also added an RBI with a bases loaded walk before the big blow. Both of Ozuna's grand slams this season have come in the first inning, as the Cardinals improved to two games over .500. They were coming off a 5-2 win over Chicago on Friday night.
Yairo Munoz also added to the first-inning outburst with an RBI double, as Cubs starter Jose Quintana received the brunt of this punishment, giving up all six earned runs and lasting just three innings in his seventh loss of the year. Meanwhile, All-Star Miles Mikolas lasted six innings and allowed just two runs to improve to 11-3 on the season for St. Louis. Javier Baez's two-run home run in the fourth inning was the only blemish on Mikolas's night.
The Cards are just two games over .500 on their home field this season, which is also unfamiliar territory. Despite that, they are still well within striking distance in the NL Wild Card hunt, just 3.5 games out of the final National League playoff spot, which is currently held by the Arizona Diamondbacks and Milwaukee Brewers. St. Louis will go for the sweep of the Cubs on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball. Chicago's NL Central lead was trimmed to just a game and a half on the Milwaukee Brewers.
Ozuna's slam was his second of the year, and was part of a six-run first inning that got the Cards going. Jose Martinez also added an RBI with a bases loaded walk before the big blow. Both of Ozuna's grand slams this season have come in the first inning, as the Cardinals improved to two games over .500. They were coming off a 5-2 win over Chicago on Friday night.
Yairo Munoz also added to the first-inning outburst with an RBI double, as Cubs starter Jose Quintana received the brunt of this punishment, giving up all six earned runs and lasting just three innings in his seventh loss of the year. Meanwhile, All-Star Miles Mikolas lasted six innings and allowed just two runs to improve to 11-3 on the season for St. Louis. Javier Baez's two-run home run in the fourth inning was the only blemish on Mikolas's night.
The Cards are just two games over .500 on their home field this season, which is also unfamiliar territory. Despite that, they are still well within striking distance in the NL Wild Card hunt, just 3.5 games out of the final National League playoff spot, which is currently held by the Arizona Diamondbacks and Milwaukee Brewers. St. Louis will go for the sweep of the Cubs on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball. Chicago's NL Central lead was trimmed to just a game and a half on the Milwaukee Brewers.
