Cubs win one and lose one against Cardinals; Series finale on Sunday

The Cubs lost 5-4 to the St. Louis Cardinals in the second game of the three-game series Saturday at Wrigley Field in front of a crowd that was over 40,000 people.  I was at the game and there were almost as many Cardinal fans as Cub fans, which made for an even more exciting rivalry, even though the Cubs couldn't come away with the W.

There were over 40,000 people on hand to watch the Cardinals-Cubs rivalry at Wrigley Field on Saturday (photo by Karen Burchell)

Travis Wood started for the Cubs and allowed three runs on six hits while walking two batters and striking out seven.  Wood only lasted five innings because his pitch count became elevated during the second and third innings.

Closer Carlos Marmol blew the save opportunity as he gave up a solo home run to Carlos Beltran in the top of the ninth inning with one out, which tied the game at 4.  "I made one mistake, I paid for it," Marmol said.  "That's how the game goes.  He made a good swing; I take my hat off."  It was Marmol's first blown save in his last 19 opportunities, which was a career high for him.

Then Cubs relief pitcher Jaye Chapman walked two batters and then gave up a go-ahead RBI double to Jon Jay in the 10th, which ended up being all the Cardinals needed to secure the win.

It was ironic that Saturday's game played out the same way as Friday's game between the two division rivals, except the Cubs came out on top Friday when Darwin Barney hit a game-tying homer in the bottom of the ninth with two outs and David DeJesus had the game-winning RBI in the 11th for a 5-4 walk-off win.

We've been in both games," Cubs manager Dale Sveum said.  "We came back and won last night's, and had the lead with two outs in today's game.  Same thing happened to them last night.  We battled and had great at-bats."

Darwin Barney was able to extend his errorless streak to 137 games on Saturday.

Darwin Barney's errorless game streak is now at 137 games (US Presswire photo)

Tomorrow the Cubs and Cards will plan the rubber game of the series in their last matchup of the season at 1:20pm CT.  Justin Germano will start for the Cubs and try to earn his third win of the season.