Cubs rally late, edge Cards in Carpenter's season debut
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}David DeJesus had four hits on Friday, including a game-winning RBI single in the bottom of the 11th inning, and the Chicago Cubs rallied late to edge the playoff-hopeful St. Louis Cardinals, 5-4, in the opener of a three-game series at rainy Wrigley Field.
Darwin Barney sent the game into extra innings with a two-out, two-run homer off Fernando Salas in the bottom of the ninth, robbing Chris Carpenter of a win in his season debut.
Carpenter hadn't appeared on a big-league mound since winning Game 7 of the World Series against the Texas Rangers last October. The veteran right- hander wasn't expected to pitch this season after shoulder issues led to a surgical procedure in July.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Instead, Carpenter held the Cubs to a pair of runs over five innings in his return. He threw 77 pitches and left with a 3-2 lead.
"My stuff wasn't as sharp as I'd like and it wasn't as sharp as it has been but I did the best I could to get as many outs as I could and give us a chance," said Carpenter. "It was fun to get back out there."
Daniel Descalso tacked on an eighth-inning RBI double for the Cardinals while Shelby Miller, Sam Freeman, Trevor Rosenthal and Edward Mujica held Chicago off the board before giving way to Salas in the ninth.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}After two quick outs, DeJesus kept the Cubs alive with a bloop single and Barney fell behind 1-2 before sending a fastball deep and gone to left field.
Alberto Cabrera (1-1) faced the minimum in the 11th and Wellington Castillo led off the home half with a single before pinch-runner Brett Jackson moved to third base on a sacrifice bunt and fly out.
DeJesus then ripped an 0-2 changeup from Joe Kelly (5-7) through the right side of the infield to halt Chicago's four-game slide.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"It's good for us to beat a team like them," said Barney. "The atmosphere was fun. It's good playing games that matter."
The Cardinals, meanwhile, saw their four-game win streak come to an end. They now hold a 1 1/2-game lead over Milwaukee for the NL's final wild card spot after the Brewers rallied for a 4-2 victory over the Washington Nationals on Friday.
Yadier Molina had a two-out, first-inning RBI single in the setback and Allen Craig added a sac fly in the third for a 2-0 lead.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}DeJesus and Barney helped the Cubs even the score in the bottom half, with the former ripping a leadoff triple and the latter following with a run-scoring single.
Two batters later, Barney scored on Alfonso Soriano's 31st double of the season.
Pete Kozma put St. Louis back on top a half-inning later when he led off with a triple and stole home during Descalso's at-bat. The rookie shortstop broke on Chris Volstad's pitch as Descalso squared to bunt, and crossed the plate when the ball popped out of Castillo's mitt.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Volstad, who will turn 26 on Sunday, was charged with three runs on six hits over five innings in the no-decision. He walked three, did not record a strikeout, and grounded out Kozma with the bases loaded to end the fifth.
Game Notes
Carpenter tossed a 90-pitch simulated game last Saturday ... St. Louis leads the season-series, 8-7 ... Soriano has a season high-tying 104 RBI ... The Cardinals went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and left 11 on base.