Chicago Cubs surprise St. Louis Cardinals 3-2 – MLB Update
Chicago Cubs surprised St. Louis Cardinals with a 3-2 win at the Wrigley Stadium in Chicago, Illinois on Monday, April 23 in the opening game of their three match series of the 2012 Major League Baseball regular season. The Cubs will be very pleased with
the way they floored the defending World Series champions.
Joe Mather had an excellent outing as his two run single with two outs in the ninth inning helped his team rally past their rivals. Matt Garza also had a great time on the mound as he allowed just two runs over seven innings pitched. Garza has not allowed
more than three earned runs in his fourteen home appearances.
"It just feels good," Mather said. "The whole atmosphere in the stadium and in the clubhouse, in the dugout, everybody was just excited."
"I'd be lying if I said it wasn't (extra satisfying)," he added. "I have a lot of good friends over there. It does feel good. When it comes down to it, ultimately we won a big-league game and the self-satisfaction is secondary."
The Cubs have not looked in the best of forms since the start of the regular season. Their win over St. Louis on Monday was their only fifth of the season. The biggest challenge for Chicago will be to maintain their impressive form throughout the series
to upset their opponents.
Right now, the only way forward for the Cubs is being aggressive. If they can adopt a more attacking strategy in their upcoming regular season games, Chicago can surely turn the tables on any opposition.
"(Garcia) was terrific," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "You look at the run early on, and that was from two infield hits. Whenever he did get in a little spot, he got that extra movement."
The Cardinals, on the other hand, will be quite disheartened by the fact they were unable to cross the winning line. With two more games to be played, the Cardinals have every reason to be optimistic about the final result. It will be interesting to see
if the Cardinals can make the most of available opportunities in the last two games to add to Cubs’ problems.
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