Thursday night at Busch Stadium, the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs opened a four-game series that could have major trade deadline implications. The Cubs enter the series only 4.5 games out of a wild-card spot. A good weekend and they'll be right back in the race and could keep rentals Cody Bellinger and Marcus Stroman. Crazier things have happened.
There was some bad blood to begin Thursday's game (CHC 10, STL 3), both literally and figuratively. Cubs outfielder Ian Happ accidentally nailed Cardinals catcher Willson Contreras with his backswing in the first inning, hard enough that it drew blood and forced Contreras to exit the game. Chicago announced the injury as a scalp laceration and said Contreras is day-to-day.
Happ and Contreras are, of course, longtime teammates from the Cubs. They even shared a hug before Contreras left the game. St. Louis starter Miles Mikolas was having none of it though. Once the game resumed, Mikolas threw at Happ, first up and in and then hitting him in the behind. The umpires ejected Mikolas without a warning. Here's the sequence:
"They said there was intent and he meant to hit him, therefore by rule they have to eject him," Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said after the game. "... If the umpires had problem with the first (pitch inside) then there should have been a warning there."
On Friday, Major League Baseball announced that Mikolas was suspended for five games while Marmol was suspended for one. Mikolas is appealing his suspension.
Mikolas obviously threw at Happ. He threw at him twice, and when it's that obvious, an ejection is warranted regardless of whether warnings were issued. That nips it in the bud right away and hopefully -- hopefully -- heads off any further beanings. It is a four-game series though. Should they decide to go in that direction, there is plenty of time for the Cubs to retaliate.
Chicago did get the last laugh: Happ's hit-by-pitch with two outs ignited a three-run rally. Dakota Hudson came out of the bullpen to replace Mikolas, allowing three runs on a bases-loaded walk (Dansby Swanson) and a two-run double (Christopher Morel).
Thursday's win got the Cubs back to .500 at 51-51. They have won six straight games. The Cardinals are in fourth place at 46-58.
