The Chicago Cubs fell to the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-0, in a series-opening contest Friday night at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.
The Cubs (66-49) were done in by an offense that, yet again, was unable to take advantage of opportunities with runners in scoring position. They also ran into a starting pitcher in Michael McGreevy who was much better in his second meeting with Chicago.
The Cardinals (59-58) nibbled around the edges for runs against Chicago starter Matthew Boyd, who did enough to keep the Cubs in the game, had the offense been able to score.
Here are three thoughts on the game.
Aug 8, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Matthew Boyd (16) pitches against the St. Louis Cardinals during the first inning at Busch Stadium. / Jeff Curry-Imagn Images
It’s hard to fault starting pitcher Matthew Boyd’s performance on Friday. He gave up seven hits and three earned runs in five innings. But he struck out three and walked none. His ERA nudged up to 2.45.
He’s been terrific for the Cubs all season and his first All-Star game selection was well deserved.
On paper, it looked like things got away from him in the fifth inning. The reality is the Cardinals played small ball with the Cubs. After a leadoff single by Pedro Pagés, Garrett Hampson dropped a sacrifice bunt but ended up safe at first. Brendan Donovan dropped another sacrifice bunt and moved both runners 90 feet.
Ivan Herrera hit a sacrifice fly to score Pagés and Willson Contreras singled to score Hampson. He left down 3-0.
This was after he induced a double-play to get out of a jam already down 1-0. Boyd did all he could.
McGreevy Who?
Aug 8, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Michael McGreevy (36) reacts after getting the final out of the fifth inning against the Chicago Cubs at Busch Stadium. / Jeff Curry-Imagn Images
Michael McGreevy was making his 10th MLB start for the Cardinals on Friday. Chicago caught him earlier this season in St. Louis and rocked him.
On June 24, the Cubs chased him off after 4.2 innings in which he gave up seven hits and five earned runs. He struck out one and walked one. Somehow, the Cardinals came back to win that game, 8-7.
Well, Friday was a different story. McGreevy did the crushing. He pitched six solid innings, gave up six hits but no runs. He struck out three and walked one. He trimmed his ERA from 5.08 to 4.40 and handed his bullpen a 5-0 lead.
Where is this Cubs offense? It seems mired, especially with runners in scoring position. The Cubs were 0-for-9 in that situation and left nine on base by game’s end. It didn’t all fall on leadoff man Michael Busch, but an 0-for-4 game from the first baseman didn’t help.
Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images
After Boyd left the game, the Cubs’ bullpen did their shaky offense no favors.
Ryan Brasier took over in the sixth and gave up the Cardinals’ final two runs — a Jordan Walker home run and a Pagés RBI single to score Thomas Saggese. Manager Craig Counsell gave Brasier just one inning after he allowed three hits.
Nate Pearson also struggled getting hitters out, though he received more runway. He pitched two innings, giving up three hits and a walk. But he didn’t give up a run.
Still, the bullpen didn’t do a good job of keeping the Cubs within any sort of striking distance, not that the offense was able to muster a comeback.
