St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Carlos Martinez wipes his brow with his glove after getting into a jam in the first inning against the Chicago Cubs at Busch Stadium in St. Louis on September 9, 2015. Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI

St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Carlos Martinez wipes his brow with his glove after getting into a jam in the first inning against the Chicago Cubs at Busch Stadium in St. Louis on September 9, 2015. Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI

I had Cubs fans lashing out at me last night on Twitter @Missourisports when I said the Chicago bullpen would be their downfall for any extended postseason run. The heated Cubs fans threw stats at me left and right about how good this bullpen was.  They did this all the while the 8-0 lead whittled away to just three last night during a five-run seventh.

Today in the eighth inning, Cubs manager Joe Maddon turned over Jon Lester’s two hit gem to the bullpen and three relievers imploded as the Cardinals struck for three runs to grab a 4-3 win and salvage the series finale.  Pedro Strop, Clayton Richard and Fernando Rodney were all victimized.

Matt Carpenter singled home a run off Clayton Richard after Pedro Strop walked Pete Kozma and gave up a single to Greg Garcia.  Stephen Piscotty drove in the tying and go-ahead rusn with a double to deep center off Fernando Rodney.

Trevor Rosenthal closed a 1-2-3 ninth for his 43rd save.