CHICAGO _ Yadier Molina has spent much of his career tormenting the Cubs, and on Friday afternoon he delivered a huge blow to the Cubs' playoff hopes in a 2-1 Cardinals win at Wrigley Field.
Molina's two-run single off Steve Cishek in the sixth inning gave the Cardinals the lead, and their bullpen held on to give them the first two games of the crucial four-games series.
Molina, who went 3 for 4, has a career average of .301 (217 for 721) against the Cubs with 16 home runs and 107 RBIs in 211 games.
The Cubs got more than they could've asked for from spot starter Alec Mills, who threw 4 2/3 shutout innings in his first major league start since July 22. But a bullpen meltdown in the sixth spoiled Mills' outing, leaving the Cubs five games behind the National League Central-leading Cardinals with eight games remaining and 1 { behind the Brewers for the second NL wild-card spot pending the Brewers' game against the Pirates on Friday night.
The Cubs have lost four straight, falling to 9-10 in September. They were 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position, and the one hit, by Kris Bryant, didn't score a run.
They'll send Jose Quintana to the mound Saturday against Dakota Hudson, hoping to keep their faint division hopes alive. At this point it probably makes more sense to focus on the second wild-card spot, which also could be slipping away.
With a 1-0 lead heading into the sixth, reliever David Phelps walked the first two hitters on nine pitches before departing for Cishek, who walked Matt Carpenter to load the bases.
Molina promptly singled up the middle to bring home the tying and go-ahead runs.
The Cubs got on the board in the second inning, when Kyle Schwarber doubled off the right-field wall and came home on an error by second baseman Tommy Edman. They had three straight one-out singles off starter Michael Wacha in the third but failed to score.
Anthony Rizzo, playing despite a sprained right ankle that's tightly wrapped, was held up at third on Bryant's single, loading the bases for Schwarber. Wacha induced Schwarber to ground into an inning-ending double play.
Wacha, who had a 4.76 ERA coming into the game, held the Cubs to one run and five hits in four innings before the bullpen shuffle began.
Five Cardinals relievers held the Cubs scoreless in the final five innings, with Carlos Martinez notching his 22nd save.
After the Cardinals grabbed the lead in the sixth, back-to-back bloop singles from Jason Heyward and Nico Hoerner started the Cubs' seventh.
But reliever John Brebbia retired Ian Happ on a pop-up and Ben Zobrist on a liner to center. After Castellanos walked to load the bases, Bryant hit a fly to deep left that Marcell Ozuna caught near the warning track.
Ozuna proceeded to trot back to the wall and fall gently backwards into the vines with his arms spread out, providing a picturesque moment to punctuate the afternoon for Cardinals fans.
Tony Kemp walked with two outs in the ninth, but Zobrist grounded to first to end it.
After scoring 55 runs in four wins over the Pirates and Reds, the Cubs have scored nine runs in their four straight losses to the Reds and Cardinals.
