CHICAGO — Before things really tilted toward Wrigley Weird — trademark pending — the Cardinals got just enough from two pitchers in their first starts of the season to make it possible, when they had a lead, to deploy the bullpen exactly as designed.
And when that didn’t even work, there was always Brendan Donovan.
Despite their top right-handed relievers lined up for use, as scripted, the Cardinals lost a lead and missed offensively on two bases-loaded chances late in the night game of a doubleheader Saturday against the Cubs. Rookie Donovan, who claimed the lead six innings earlier, delivered his second two-run double of the game to break a tie and ignite a four-run 10th inning. That pushed the Cardinals ahead to split the doubleheader with a Game 2 win, 7-4. The Cubs cinched a 6-1 win in Game 1 with 18 baserunners and one pitch that piqued the Cardinals. A suitably wild, sometimes wacky, day at Wrigley refused to be content with a mere 18 innings of baseball and required a 19th between the region’s oldest rivals. The first 18 already included a colorful ejection made for social-media immortality, a 3,000th game for all-time great Albert Pujols, a modern bullpen tutorial, and then, at the end, the most unexpected feat of all.
