Near the end of a season-opening series that turned almost every time a fielder lost his grip, the Cardinals invited a Cubs’ rally when they couldn’t shake a sticky baseball loose.
Holding fast to a two-run lead in the seventh inning Thursday afternoon, Cardinals reliever Brett Cecil got pinch-hitter Matt Szczur swinging at a curveball in the dirt for strike 3.
Catcher Yadier Molina looked to his feet to find the ball and make the routine throw to first for the first out. The ball wasn’t there, wasn’t anywhere around the plate. Molina didn’t see it at all — until he found it clinging curiously, as if by Velcro, to his chest protector.