Ian Happ hit two solo home runs, Justin Steele struck out eight and the Chicago Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals 9-1 on Saturday in Major League Baseball’s pandemic-delayed return to the British capital of London, England.
Happ led off the second inning with a deep drive to straightaway center and put another Adam Wainwright pitch over the right-field fence in the third as the Cubs won their fourth straight game.
Chicago used a series of two-out knocks to pile up runs against the Cardinals veteran Wainwright (3-2), who was yanked after back-to-back doubles in the fourth. The Cardinals starter gave up 11 hits, one shy of his career high, and a season-high seven runs in the shortest of his nine starts this season. He has faced the Cubs 57 times in his career.
A hyped crowd of 54,662, MLB’s largest this season, filled London Stadium, some singing “Go Cubs Go” when they collected the 27th and final out of the game. Chicago (37-38) has won nine of 10 and with a win on Sunday could get back to .500 for the first time in over a month.
The Cubs were very efficient, having more hits (14) than swings and misses (10). Nine of the hits were with two outs.
The Cardinals, bringing up the rear in a tightly contested National League Central at 31-45, lost its second straight following a four-game winning streak.
Happ’s first homer cleared the 16-foot fence in center, a wall pushed back 7 feet to 392 after the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, which is considered the best rivalry in all of baseball, combined for 50 runs in two games in 2019, when MLB made its European debut. The ball hit at about the spot where West Ham, the stadium’s home team in the Premier League, has its “Hammers” logo hidden by the high fence and blacked out seats.
Happ entered the contest with just five home runs on the season.
Steele (8-2) allowed just five hits in six innings of work and struck out eight, tying his season high.
“It’s definitely something different in the energy and the electricity in this building,” Steele said. “I mean, I felt every fan with me, honestly felt like everybody was out there on the mound with me. It was really cool. It was something I’ll never forget.”
Steele squashed a Cardinals mini-rally like a bug, with three consecutive Ks ending the sixth.
Cardinals’ first baseman Paul Goldschmidt singled home Tommy Edman before Nolan Arenado singled to put two on. Steele got former cub catcher Willson Contreras and Jordan Walker swinging and, after a wild pitch moved the runners up, threw a called third strike past Dylan Carlson.
The south paw kept the Cardinals off balance and hitless before a leadoff single in the fifth by Walker, who has the longest active hitting streak at 14 games.
Dansby Swanson hit a two-run homer with two outs in the ninth. Christopher Morel had a trio of hits on his 24th birthday. What a way to celebrate. No. 9 hitter Nick Madrigal was 2 for 4.
The Red Sox and Yankees had a marathon first inning in their first game in London. It was 6-6 after one frame. This time around, it was a clean 1-2-3 inning on both sides.
Goldschmidt became the first big leaguer to play a regular-season game in five countries. The reigning NL MVP added a Britain stamp to his baseball passport on Saturday. He played in Mexico with the Cardinals four years ago and in Australia with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2014, in addition to the United States and Canada. The Elias Sports Bureau said 16 others reached the four-country mark. Goldschmidt went 1 for 3 with an RBI and a walk.
Much had changed since the 2019 games, when Britain was part of the European Union, and “God Save the Queen” was played along with “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Brexit took place the following winter and King Charles III took over as monarch last September after the death of Elizabeth II, resulting in the teams standing along the foul lines for “God Save the King.”
Cubs: Short stop Swanson (wrist) was back in the lineup after being held out of Wednesday’s 8-3 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates as a precaution.
Cardinals: Reliever Jordan Hicks was unavailable because of illness. Hicks had a save in three straight wins this week. Infielder Nolan Gorman also was ill and has limited availability but could be used in a pitch hit situation.
NL ERA leader Marcus Stroman (9-4, 2.28 ERA) is 7-0 with a 1.29 ERA in his last seven starts going into Sunday’s series finale. The Cardinals scratched their ace Jack Flaherty due to hip tightness.
Actor and longtime Cubs superfan Bill Murray was in attendance to take in the game.
