Cubs make flurry of moves with roster in flux because of COVID outbreak

ST. LOUIS — The Cubs had to make a flurry of roster moves before their 4-3 loss Friday to the Cardinals after putting infielder David Bote and outfielder Nick Martini on the injured list.

They selected outfielder Johneshwy Fargas and infielder Tyler Ladendorf from Triple-A Iowa. Fargas slashed .269/.296/.346 in 13 games with the Cubs earlier in the season, and Ladendorf was summoned to the big leagues for the first time since 2016 with the Athletics.

Right-hander Cory Abbott was recalled from Iowa and started for the Cubs. He looked solid in his five innings and was in control for most of the night.

Abbott’s only two mistakes came against Cardinals outfielder Tyler O’Neill, who crushed two home runs against him. He allowed two runs and four hits, struck out four and walked two.

‘‘Amazing,’’ Abbott said of his first start. ‘‘Kind of went into it just, whatever happens, happens. Let it be, execute and just have fun. Enjoyed every moment of it.’’

Finally, the Cubs put infielder Nico Hoerner on the 10-day IL, retroactive to Tuesday, with tightness in his right oblique. Hoerner finishes the season slashing .302/.382/.369 with 10 doubles and 16 RBI. He missed 90 games this season.

‘‘I’m pretty proud of how I prepared for this year and how I went about this year on a daily basis,’’ Hoerner said Thursday. ‘‘I really trust how that’s gonna play out over the long haul. And that does include taking in this year and really trying to understand it as best I can.’’

‘‘I think that’s kind of where we’re at with him,’’ manager David Ross said this week. ‘‘Let’s not get to a place where we waste a lot of time with trying to gain a couple of more at-bats, a couple of more innings at shortstop. Let’s be able to make sure we get him to see the right people and identify the problems, so that we can be playing for a championship and contention next year.’’

Thompson goes yard

Right fielder Trayce Thompson provided all the Cubs’ offense Friday. After they fell behind 2-0 on O’Neill’s two homers, Thompson brought them back with one swing.

Thompson crushed a three-run homer against Cardinals left-hander T.J. McFarland in the sixth inning that gave the Cubs a 3-2 lead. The 425-foot blast was Thompson’s third homer of the season.

Did you know?

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Abbott and catcher Erick Castillo became the first pair of Cubs batterymates to make their first major-league starts in the same game since Sept. 14, 2017, when Jen-Ho Tseng pitched to Taylor Davis against the Mets.

He said it

Catcher Willson Contreras, on a contract extension: ‘‘I’m open to everything. I’m open to extension talks. I’ve always been open. I’m still here. That’s a good sign. I thought I was going to get traded at the trade deadline, but it didn’t happen. That gave me a lot more comfort that I was staying with this team.’’