After late rally, Cardinals pursue series split vs. Cubs

Designated hitter Ivan Herrera is hoping a big night at the plate is all that was needed to ignite the slumping St. Louis Cardinals.

St. Louis had lost nine of its previous 11 games before Herrera delivered a walk-off, two-run double in the 10th inning to help the Cardinals to a 3-2 win over the visiting Chicago Cubs on Wednesday.

Herrera doubled twice among his three hits for St. Louis, which aims for a split of its four-game series against the Cubs on Thursday.

"After falling behind 2-0 in the top of the 10th, it was huge to come back and win that game," Herrera said. "I know we've been going through a rough patch, but we've done that before and come back. ... Hopefully (the win) puts us on the right track."

Herrera capped the Cardinals' comeback after the Cubs broke a scoreless tie following Pete Crow-Armstrong's two-run homer in the top half of the 10th.

"(Herrera) has been battling quite a bit to get right again, and we saw some really good swings out of him today," Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. "That was a big swing at the end there, and we needed it. We've been on a tough little stretch, so a win is important. And the way we did it tonight is extra."

St. Louis is 2 1/2 games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks and Philadelphia Phillies for the final wild-card spot in the National League.

Thursday's pitching matchup features a pair of right-handers as Chicago's Javier Assad (6-1, 3.86 ERA) faces Andre Pallante (11-6, 3.77).

Assad, 28, appeared as a reliever last Saturday and pitched three scoreless innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates for his first career save.

Left-hander Shota Imanaga was expected to start the series finale, but he has been pushed back a day and will face the New York Yankees on Friday.

Lars Nootbaar is 2-for-11 against Assad, who is 1-2 with a 2.63 ERA in 11 career games (six starts) versus St. Louis. He pitched 4 2/3 scoreless innings in a start against the Cardinals on July 5.

Pallante will take the mound for St. Louis after allowing two hits over seven innings in a 7-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds last Saturday.

Pallante, 27, drew praise from his manager after matching his season high with eight strikeouts.

"Had everything working and just attacked in the zone," Marmol said. "Expanded when needed. The curveball was a really, really good pitch for him. Got a lot of punch with it. A pretty dominant outing."

Nico Hoerner is 4-for-11 with a home run against Pallante, who is 1-4 with a 4.34 ERA in 14 career games (seven starts) versus the Cubs, including 1-0 with a 4.15 ERA in two outings this season.

Chicago has a 4 1/2-game lead as the first wild card in the NL. The Cubs reportedly are searching for starting pitching ahead of the Aug. 3 trade deadline.

"If we go get pieces, that's only going to help us," Crow-Armstrong said. "The way that we're playing, and what we're capable of in this current clubhouse, there's a lot of big things that we can achieve with this group."

--Field Level Media