Boy, today was a hard one to swallow.  There were five lead changes and two ties, but in the end, the Cubs (42-51) could not hold on as the division-leading Cardinals (57-36) scored four in the ninth inning to win 10-6.

Travis Wood (6-6, 2.79 ERA) did not have his best stuff today, allowing three earned runs on 10 hits and three walks in 5.2 innings.  And still, he left the Cubs with a chance to win the ball game.

The Cubs led 4-3 at the end of the sixth and were tied at six at the end of the eighth, but it seemed like every time the offense struck, the bullpen blew it.

Matt Guerrier allowed two runs to give the Cardinals the lead 5-4 in the top seventh following a three-run shot in the sixth by Darwin Barney.  Guerrier has now allowed three runs in his past two appearances and as now given up three runs on five hits in his past two innings of work.

After tying the ballgame up in the bottom of the eighth on a Cody Ransom double, Kevin Gregg allowed four runs on four hits including a three-run homer by Yadier Molina.

The Cubs had Starlin Castro, Anthony Rizzo and Alfonso Soriano up in the bottom ninth, but there was nothing to be done following an extremely disappointing outing by the bullpen.

Notables: Castro went 1-for-4, Barney went 3-for-4 with a homer and four RBI.  Gregg is 0-2 with an 8.10 ERA and a 1.700 WHIP in his past 10 games.

With the loss, the Cubs split the series two games apiece with the Cardinals.  That’s it for now, and go Cubs!