After Jordan Walker had hit a three-run home run to propel the Cardinals into the lead, third baseman Jose Fermín threw wildly on a potential inning-ending double play and St. Louis ultimately lost to the Cubs 6-4 at Wrigley Field. Still, the Cards won two of three in the series.
In many ways, José Fermín has been one of the reasons the Cardinals have been MLB’s biggest surprise team of 2026 with the plate scrappiness and the positional versatility he has offered the squad all season.
A starter at third base on Sunday in place of the struggling Blaze Jordan, Fermín has played every position for the Cardinals this season other than catcher or pitcher. He’s appeared in 20 games in left field, 11 in center field, two in right, 13 at third, two at second, three at shortstop, one at first base and he even got one start at designated hitter. In the 79 defensive chances Fermín had on the season, he had committed just one defensive miscue. while also hitting .267 with eight doubles, three homers and 16 RBI.
However, the 24-year-old utility fielder's second error of the season proved to be an especially costly one on Sunday.
Fermín fielded a seemingly routine inning-ending double play ball at third base, but his side-armed throw tailed away from JJ Wetherholt and trickled into right field. That error paved the way for three more runs that allowed the Cubs to beat the Cardinals 6-4 in the series finale at Wrigley Field.
Newly minted All-Star Jordan Walker hit a three-run, go-ahead homer half-way up the bleachers in left field to briefly give the Cardinals a 3-2 lead in the sixth inning. Walker’s 20th home run allowed him to join Albert Pujols (32 homers and 10 stolen bases in 2009) as the only Cardinals players with at least 20 homers and 10 stolen bases prior to the MLB All-Star Game. (Walker has stolen 11 bases in 16 tries this season.)
Cardinals’ lefty Matthew Liberatore saw a second straight victory slip through his fingers when he walked catcher Carson Kelly to open the sixth inning. A Michael Busch single moved Kelly to third and a Nico Hoerner single off reliever Matt Svanson knotted the score. Then, following an Ian Happ popup, Fermín misfired to second on what would have most likely been an inning-ending double play. Busch and Hoerner scored and Swanson scored when Fermín couldn’t knock down Walker’s throw from right field.
Cards still dominated the series
The Cardinals won the first two games of the series in decidedly different kinds of ways. On Friday, they pounded out 17 hits and three homers for a 17-1 victory that proved to be the third-most lopsided result in the 135-year history of the storied rivalry. On Saturday, playing after a rain delay and through a fog delay, the Cards used a leadoff homer from JJ Wetherholt and RBI singles from Ivan Herrera and Alec Burleson for a 3-0 win.
Those Cardinals victories broke a five-game winning streak for the Cubs, who hit eight homers in their series finale in a 23-3 victory over the Padres. Andre Pallante and Kyle Leahy not only shut out the Cubs over 10 innings, but they kept them in the park at Wrigley Field. The Cubs did not homer in the three-game series.
Up next for the Cardinals will be a grueling four-day, five-game stretch against the National League Central-leading Brewers. The Cards will be shuffling their pitching rotation for that series with veteran right-hander Dustin May starting on Monday and Michael McGreevy pitching one of the two games on Tuesday. Triple-A left-hander Brycen Mautz, who made his MLB debut earlier this season against the Brewers, was pulled from his Memphis start after 44 pitches on Sunday and is an option to be the Cardinals’ 27 player for the doubleheader.
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