Cubs thrash Cardinals 10-2 as St. Louis falls below .500
The Chicago Cubs routed the St. Louis Cardinals 10-2 on Tuesday night at Busch Stadium, sending St. Louis below .500 for the first time in 2026 at 53-54. Chicago jumped ahead 7-0 after two innings behind multi-RBI nights from Seiya Suzuki, Ian Happ and Nico Hoerner.
Key Takeaways
- The Cubs scored seven runs in the first two innings and finished with 17 hits in a 10-2 win at Busch Stadium.
- St. Louis fell to 53-54, below .500 for the first time this season, after a third straight loss.
- Michael McGreevy lasted just 1 2/3 innings, allowing seven earned runs on eight hits.
- Colin Rea threw six solid innings for Chicago, allowing one earned run on four hits.
- The Cardinals’ skid raises trade-deadline questions ahead of Monday’s 5 p.m. CT cutoff.
What happened in the Cubs’ 10-2 win?
Chicago (61-46) wasted little time at Busch Stadium. Happ capped an 11-pitch at-bat with a two-run double to open the scoring. Pete Crow-Armstrong’s sacrifice fly plated Michael Conforto, Suzuki added a double, and Michael Busch and Hoerner each singled home a run to make it 7-0 and chase Cardinals starter McGreevy.
Suzuki, Happ and Hoerner each drove in two runs. Pedro Ramírez added an infield single that scored Hoerner in the fifth, Suzuki singled home another run in the eighth, and Carson Kelly drove in a run with a single in the ninth as the Cubs piled up 17 hits, according to ESPN’s game recap.
St. Louis scratched across a run in the fourth when Alec Burleson scored on Nathan Church’s sacrifice fly after Burleson walked and Lars Nootbaar and Masyn Winn singled. Winn’s ground-rule double in the ninth accounted for the Cardinals’ second run.
Why does falling below .500 matter for St. Louis?
The loss dropped the Cardinals to 53-54 and marked their first sub-.500 mark of 2026. It was also their third straight defeat and fifth loss in six games on the homestand, MLB.com reported.
McGreevy (4-9) recorded five outs and allowed seven runs—more runs than outs—in what amounted to his first true blowup outing of the year. Manager Oliver Marmol framed the skid as a teaching stretch for a young roster rather than a surprise collapse of a finished contender.
“There’s just a real conviction at the moment of not remaining in the middle,” Marmol said, pointing toward a clearer path even as the public conversation shifts toward selling short-term pieces before the Trade Deadline.
Where can fans follow the rest of the series?
Wednesday’s matchup at Busch featured Cardinals right-hander Dustin May (5-7, 4.59 ERA) against Cubs left-hander Matthew Boyd (6-1, 3.81 ERA), with first pitch listed at 6:45 CT. For schedule and stream alerts around the rivalry, check our Streaming & TV Alerts hub.
Rea (8-7) set the tone for Chicago by working six innings with four hits, one earned run, two walks and two strikeouts. After an early-season cushion built on power, St. Louis now faces a stretch that, in Marmol’s words, makes the lessons of walks, chase pitches and big innings “more real” once the club has lived them.