In a 3-2 grind in St. Louis, Chicago’s offense produced a handful of loud moments but came up short in the late innings. Matt Shaw’s two-run homer to erase an early 2-0 deficit set the tone, and Nico Hoerner added multi-hit base hits, yet the Cubs couldn’t push the go-ahead run across in the ninth. Eight Cubs hits and a trio of walks couldn’t overcome a tight Cardinals bullpen and clean late single from Nolan Gorman. Despite elite early stuff from Shōta Imanaga, the Cubs left more on the table than their stat line would suggest, with just two runs scoring on eight hits and one error by the Cards helping tilt the balance in a one-run decision.

The loss tightens the chase for a wild-card spot as Chicago heads to Toronto. The series outlook comes with Miguel Amaya’s return on the horizon and rotation shifts nudging toward Taillon and Javier Assad soon, which could reshape the Cubs’ late-season rotation. With a 1.5-game cushion on the Padres for the top wild-card, every run and decision matters as they navigate health and bullpen depth over the next 6–7 weeks. The bullpen (including JoJo Romero’s save) and the tactical eighth-inning calls will be under the microscope as Chicago eyes the postseason.

Brad Keller’s one-inning push as the hero for St. Louis and Nolan Gorman’s seventh-inning RBI provided the decisive edge, while Carson Kelly supplied three hits in a critical win. The Cubs will need to replicate the offensive tempo they showed in bursts and solve the late-inning touches that slipped away in this one, because every game in this window could tilt a wildcard outcome.