Cardinals reliever Brett Cecil struck out the first hitter he faced in the seventh inning and walked the second one. But both scored ahead of Kyle Schwarber’s home run as the Cubs overcame a Cardinals lead with four runs to take a 6-4 edge.
The inning began in bizarre fashion, with the Cardinals ahead 4-2, when Cecil, signed to a four-year, free-agent contract in the off-season, struck out pinch hitter Matt Szczur but the ball didn’t wind up in Molina’s glove. Molina frantically tried to find it on the ground near the plate but the pitch somehow had stuck to his chest protector and by the time Molina realized this, Szczur was safe at first.