Cubs vs. Cardinals Game Highlights (6/23/25) | MLB Highlights

The Cubs and the Cardinals. It's the first of a four-game set, the first meeting of the year between these two teams. But the Cardinals right now have the Cubs in town. They're 4 1⁄2 games behind them with a four-game set. Are you kidding me right now? Matthew Libertor is the man on the mound for the Cardinals. Brad, coming off a terrific start his last time out against the White Sox. He really was good, and it was a bounce-back performance for Libby. Haps put together good numbers from this side at the right side. He's sitting 2'8". As this one slowly chopped towards short. Mason on the run, and the stretch at first in time. Soft contact for an infield out for Libertor to start the game. Two soft outs here in the first inning. Isaiah Suzuki, he's one of two 20 homer men in the lineup. And he jumps on the first one. That's headed for right center. And Victor with a leaping grab. And Libertor, three outs on five pitches. And for the Cubs tonight, it's young right-hander Ben Brown, who's making his 14th start. Ben Brown has got some big stuff. Swing and a miss, struck him out. Fastball, fastball, slider. There's a combination that has been used literally thousands of times over the baseball year. And it keeps working. Burleson is getting closer to qualifying to be in the top 10 in batting in the National League. Burleson, first pitch swinging. Lifted to center. Pete Crow Armstrong there to make the catch. A five-pitch, one-two-three inning for Ben Brown. It's like these hitters are double-parked. Dansby Swanson been in a bit of a funk. Last 25 hitting just 200 at a strikeout rate of a little over 30%. Boy, that curveball's breaking pretty well. His first strikeout of the night. He just took care of cleanup man Dansby Swanson. Four up, four down for Libertor to start the game. Pete Crow Armstrong, part of the all-conference team against the Central. 288, nine homers against the Central. Hey, heated him up upstairs. Back-to-back strikeouts. We told you he'll chase a little bit. Nice sequence by Matthew Libertor. The pitch prior was the slider down and away in the dirt. This time, fastball up high. One-oh to Kelly, line to the gap. Base hit, left center. Over to pick it up is Scott. He will hold Kelly to a long single. And the Cubs have the first hit and base runner of tonight's game. Kelly a short lead. The pitch. On the ground a second. And the flip to Mason at the back. And that will retire the side. When Wilson Contreras faces the Cubs, it can get awfully loud. He has no problem being the villain against the Cubbies. That one in there, got him. Drean Johnson, but he didn't really say anything. It's a strikeout. And what a way to land this curveball top of the zone. Nolan Arradondo had a terrific series against the Reds. He hits with the bases empty. Two outs. He's up to 10 homers, 39 RBIs. Popped up behind first. Turner on the run. Horner on the run. Tucker on the run. And it's going to drop for a hit. Nolan stumbles. Throw back, and Kelly backed up at first base. And Arradondo, after a slip, is thrown out after a bloop single. He put on the brakes and slipped. So he gets a single out of that, but he's thrown out. Well, how about that? And Carson Kelly. Cardinals with two hits through the first three innings. The Cub with just one hit. Contreras took a high curveball in the zone for strike three his first time up. Team leader in homers and RBIs. That stroke to the gap in left center. Contreras around first on his way to second. Coe Armstrong with a nice pickup. And Wilson has a two-out, two-strike double. He went down to get that. Back is going towards the gap, and Contreras is going to make it into second base with a stand-up double with two outs. And Lars Neupahr, a chance to drive in the game's first run. So the second chance for the Cardinals with a man in scoring position. High, flat ball to right field. Pretty well hit. Took it. Neupahr. Little two-out magic right here for the Cardinals with Lars Neupahr, his tenth of the season. Another curveball. A two-run shot into the bleachers in right field. Two-nothing Cardinals. Home run, number ten for Neupahr. Line drive. Gorgeous play. Steals a hit. Shaw rubbing Arenado. Pete Coe Armstrong on deck for the Cubs. Top of the fifth here in St. Louis. It's the Cardinals with a two-nothing lead. That is ripped out towards left center. That one back. Coe Armstrong heads to second base. Gets there, standing up. Nice start to the fifth for the Cubs. Slow the game down a little and use the other side of the field. You just see the ball longer, and he bangs it off the left center field wall for a double. So, PCA at second base. No one out here in the top of the fifth. Cubs down two. Got one wide. Got two. The eye single for the former Cardinal, Carson Kelly. It's 2-1 St. Louis here in the fifth. 2-1 St. Louis. The Cubs with a big-time rally in the fifth inning. Three straight hits. Ground out and a walk. Shaw draws a walk, and now the Cubs have the bases loaded. So, now trouble really afoot. You've got Cardinals killer Ian Happ coming up. Libertor needs to make a big pitch here. Chopper toward third. Nolan's got it. Second one. Fires two. One huge pitch. Libertor makes a gigantic pitch. Exactly what Libertor needed. What a timely pitch. Around the horn. Five, four, three. And Libertor gets out of the inning, and he almost wore one. There's a base on balls. Free base runner for the Cardinals. Two outs for Donovan. Donovan's bounced out and flied out. Swing drive. That's right foot to right. Tucker says goodbye. A home run for Brendan Donovan. The Cardinals lead 4-1, and they have hit a pair of two out home runs. One in the fourth by Newpar, and this one in the fifth by Donovan. I like fireworks in St. Louis, too. Well, you're getting some now with Donovan. This shot, 393-footer. And that is ball four. All right. The rally continues. Burleson's next. Twenty-one pitch fourth. Twenty-one now with two outs in the fifth inning. It's going to draw a little conversation here at the mound. Well, how about another two-run bomb here for Cardinal Nation? It's a 4-1 St. Louis lead. They got the right guy up. Swing high. Fly ball again. Deep right. Tucker going back. Going back. Two two-run homers in the inning. The Cardinals lead 6-1 in the fifth. Chip might have to make a run for more fireworks. The Cardinals powering up again. This time it's Alec Burleson. Walk homer. Walk homer. And the Cardinals, with four in the fifth, have a 6-1 lead. Again, we talked about it early in the game. Efficiency is going to be a big key. Look at where Libertor's pitch count is tonight. He's right where he needs to be. Swing and a miss. Suzuki down on strikes. Libby's punched his ticket twice tonight, two away. The fifth strikeout for Libertor. Libby's working on a 1-2-3 sixth inning. To center. Victor is going to catch that. Libby's got another 1-2-3. We head to the home sixth. Nolan's got a hit. He's also got a rocket to third. Then Shaw climbed the ladder to catch. That one. Fair! That's going to bounce off the sidewall. Arenado's got a two-hit night. That one hugged the chalk to the third base bag and hopped over fair. Nolan Arenado is on for Nolan Gorman. So a good start for St. Louis. Here's Gorman, 0 for 2. Swing drive. That one rifled to right center. It's another two-run homer. Everybody is in on the party. It is a power parade in St. Louis. Gorman with his pick. The Cardinals' fourth two-run home run of the day. It's a gutter for Gorman. Eight to one Cardinals. Cardinal home run derby tonight. All left-handed batters. All two-run homers. And Craig Council's going to go get Ben Brown, who had given up nine homers this season. The Cardinals have touched him for four in Game 1 tonight. Center field. Pete Carl Armstrong is back. Near the wall. Jumps, and he makes the catch. Great play. PCA. And it steals extra bases. And a sensational play. One of many that he has made and one of many more to come in the future. Pete Carl Armstrong. What a player he's become. What a play by Pete Carl Armstrong. To rob extra bases. Swings here. Lifts that to left field. And shallow. And that will fall from the new ball. PCA diving into second, and he's got a double. Carl Armstrong with his second two-bagger of the night. Just kind of flipped that into left field. Putting on another show here tonight. And the Cubs have men at first and third. Horner with a base hit. And here is Justin Turner, a time when the Cubs could really use a long ball. Out of the right-center field, but Scott cutting across is there to make the catch. Pete Carl Armstrong will try home from third. Set fly, Justin Turner. The Cubs get a run back. And now it's an eight-to-two ballgame. Help drives in a run. This ball hit in the right center, into that gap, and Scott, who has very good speed, runs that ball down in the gap. On the ground. Mason to his left. Tricky hop, but he stayed with it. What a night for Matthew Libertor. Seven innings of two-run ball. Roderick Munoz will try to get the final three outs and salt this one away and help the Cardinals gain a game in the standings. Cardinals fans on their feet with an out to get. To short. That should do it. Cardinals a big win. Eight-two over the Cubs. They pick up a game in the standings. Power and pitching the recipe tonight. Four two-run home runs, beating the Cubbies at their own game.