Anthony Rizzo, batting leadoff after the original lineup had him in his usual
cleanup spot, gave the Cubs a 1-0 lead in the third when he hit his 22nd homer.
The David Ortiz-sized hole in the
cleanup spot seemed even more noticeable for most of the evening at Busch Stadium, as Andrew Benintendi endured yet another disappointing game, driving in the game-tying run with a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning but finishing 0-for-5 to extend his hitless streak to 26 at-bats.
Frost leads the team with a .430 batting average, 11 homers and 47 RBIs in the
cleanup spot. Strahm leads off and is hitting .419 with a team-high 42 runs scored followed in the order by Land, who is batting .359, and Herbert, who is batting .425 with 27 RBIs.
He batted in the
cleanup spot. While Farrell, like Terry Francona before him, has often said that the American League is at a substantial disadvantage playing in National League parks without the DH, Boston took two of three in St.
Takahashi, hitting in the
cleanup spot, homered in his first at-bat.
Koyano, who batted in the
cleanup spot, led off the inning with a double and moved to third on a Shinji Takahashi one-out grounder before Nakamura's errant throw to first on a slow roller from Jason Botts.
Hitoshi Tamura, one of Softbank's key offseason acquisitions, had an RBI triple in the
cleanup spot.
In the
cleanup spot is Monette himself, who plans to take over in mid-September.
Miklasz wrote that the Cardinals became a formidable team when La Russa moved Mark McGwire out of the
cleanup spot and installed Pujols in his place.
Thompson, a Churchill graduate, is 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA and is hitting .343 out of the
cleanup spot.
Samardzija's only other glitch was the two-run homer by Saltalamacchia, who was starting in the
cleanup spot for the first time in his career.