Reed Johnson's bunt single leads Cubs to a 3-2 win against the Cardinals

I was lucky enough to be at Wrigley Field Saturday afternoon to watch the Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals 3-2 in the second game of the three-game series.  Thanks to the generosity of Stanley's Kitchen and Tap, I got to watch the game from the best seats I've ever sat in at the Friendly Confines.

Jeff Samardzija started for the Cubs and allowed two runs on three hits and walked six batters and struck out seven over six innings pitched.  The Shark didn't get off to a good start when he threw seven straight balls and walked the bases loaded in the first inning.  Luckily, he was able to get out of the inning with just one run scored by the Cardinals.

Jeff Samardzija at bat in Saturday's game against the Cardinals (photo by Karen Burchell)

"There were spurts when I couldn't miss and I was making all my pitches, and there were times when I was battling myself," Samardzija said.  "It almost took having runners on to really get my head on straight and make big pitches."  Perhaps the best part about not knowing where your pitches might go is that neither does the opponent, which worked out nicely for the Cubs.

"You really can measure yourself against these teams," Samardzija said about facing the Cardinals and Pirates, who will face the Cubs at Wrigley Field next.  "We don't know our record, we don't know where we're at [in the standings].  Just every day, we know the guy we're facing and who's pitching for us.  I really like how we're playing baseball now.  It's fun to come to the park.  Everybody's excited and happy and wants to play all nine innings.  It's a lot of fun."

Bryan LaHair on-deck in Saturday's game against the Cardinals (photo by Karen Burchell)

The game was tied at 2 in the seventh inning when Bryan LaHair walked and Tony Campana came into the game to pinch run for LaHair.  Campana stole second base and reached third when Geovany Soto singled.  Then Jeff Baker lined out and Luis Valbuena struck out.

Reed Johnson then bunted towards third with what ended up being the game-winning RBI which scored Tony "wheels" Campana.

Reed Johnson before his game-winning RBI in the seventh inning (photo by Karen Burchell)

Tony Campana scores on Reed Johnson's 2-out bunt single to give the Cubs the lead against the Cardinals (photo by Karen Burchell)

“That was all on his own,” Cubs manager Dale Sveum said of Johnson's decision to bunt.  “Reed is one of those baseball players that has those kinds of things in his tool box.  He is one of those guys who gets picked up now or even after the deadline because he is a valuable guy to a team that is vying for a championship.”

Also in the seventh inning, when Sveum came on the field to challenge the call of Castro being called out at first on Daniel Descalso's throw, he was ejected for the third time this season.  Which is just ridiculous since the replay showed that Castro clearly beat the throw to first.

Oh well, another argument for instant replay in MLB games.  Relief pitcher James Russell earned the win and Carlos Marmol earned the save today.

Here are some of my photos from the game:

Starlin Castro at bat against the Cardinals (photo by Karen Burchell)

Anthony Rizzo at bat against the Cardinals (photo by Karen Burchell)

Relief pitcher James Russell earned the win against the Cardinals (photo by Karen Burchell)

Cubs players celebrate their win against the Cardinals on Saturday (photo by Karen Burchell)

Cubs players celebrate their win against the Cardinals as Wrigley Field is singing "Go Cubs Go" (photo by Karen Burchell)

Tomorrow the Cubs and Cards will play the rubber game of the series at 1:20pm CT.  Paul Maholm will start for the Cubs and try to earn his 10th win of the season which would also be his sixth straight win.