St. Louis Cardinals’ third baseman Nolan Arenado wasn’t content with just one jaw-dropping throw from third to first against the Cubs. So he did it twice.
Nolan Arenado was a highlight machine for the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday against the Chicago Cubs.
For every batter who thought they could get one over on the third baseman, there was an impressive throw to disappoint them.
In the bottom of the second, Arenado showed off his fielding skill, arm power and, frankly, his sheer boldness when he backhanded a grounder to third and spun to throw to first for the out.
Contreras might have expected a hit against most other third basemen, but not Arenado.
But wait, there’s more! Arenado did it again in almost identical fashion to Patrick Wisdom in the bottom of the fourth.
If batters want to keep putting it near third base, Arenado will keep throwing them out from a ridiculous distance.
Nolan Arenado’s ridiculous throws were St. Louis’ only bright spot
The trouble for the Cardinals is that Arenado’s throws didn’t put points on the board for them. The Cubs took a 2-0 lead in the third inning thanks to an Anthony Rizzo RBI single and an error by Paul DeJong. The game ended without any more scoring from either side.
Arenado couldn’t translate his defense to offense on this particular day. He went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
Cubs pitcher Zach Davies gave up just two hits in 6.2 innings of work while the Chicago bullpen took care of the rest.
The result kept the Cardinals in free-fall. They’ve lost 11 of their last 13 games and trail third-place Cincinnati in the NL Central.
Chicago enjoyed the sweep of St. Louis as part of a five-game winning streak. They’re tied with Milwaukee at the top of the division.