Pedro Strop was forced to close Wednesday for the Cubs after Jason Motte was used in both ends of the Tuesday doubleheader.
Instead of closing, Strop opened the door for the Cardinals to win and they bashed their way right in.
He entered with a 6-5 lead in the ninth and promptly retired the first two batters. But he walked Matt Carpenter and surrendered a home run to Jhonny Peralta to disappoint the Wrigley Field fans.
Strop had yielded just one run in his previous 15 2/3 innings pitched.