Albert Almora Jr., Cubs steal one in St. Louis, beat Cards 2-1

Albert Almora Jr., 22, robs Matt Adams of a would-be home run to preserve the Cubs’ 2-1 lead in Tuesday’s seventh inning at Busch Stadium.

ST. LOUIS — On his mom’s birthday Monday, Albert Almora Jr. promised he would hit a home run for her.

The Cubs center fielder had to settle for the next best thing. He reached over the fence in the seventh inning to rob Matt Adams of a home run and preserve a 2-1 win over the Cardinals on Tuesday night at Busch Stadium.

“I told her, I didn’t hit you one, but I robbed you one,” Almora said after the game, in which Jake Arrieta flashed his old Cy Young form in a six-inning season debut. “She thought that was pretty funny, and she loved it.

“I love playing defense and helping my team out. My top moment of the night was when I came in and Jake gave me a big hug.”

Arrieta said he owes Almora for the “game-saver.”

But if he’s handing out gifts for defensive plays, he’s going to need more than a few trips to the ATM. Right fielder Jason Heyward made a leaping catch off a Matt Carpenter drive in the gap in the sixth. Kris Bryant made a couple of tough plays at third, and Javy Baez had some exceptional plays at second base, including the final play of the game.

Baez dove to his left to smother Kolten Wong’s grounder deep on the grass in shallow right, then popped to one knee and threw him out by less than half a step.

“It was all about defense tonight,” manager Joe Maddon said. “We made plays.”

Arrieta’s start was hard to overlook, especially the first two times through the order. He retired the first nine he faced — striking out five of the first seven — and 13 of 14 before hitting Stephen Piscotty with a pitch in the fifth.

“The ball was moving a lot,” Maddon said. “It was very reminiscent of a couple years ago, his strike throwing and the way the hitters reacted to the pitch.”

The only run to score against him was unearned and began with Piscotty getting hit by a pitch. He advanced to second on a wild pitch, but not before catcher Willson Contreras hit him with a throw down to second.

Then when Wong’s tapper toward second was muffed by Baez trying to barehand it, Piscotty continued around third only to get hit in the head on Baez’s subsequent throw to the plate as he slide safely for the run.

Piscotty was on the ground for a couple minutes before eventually walking off the field. The Cardinals said he suffered a bruised head and will be evaluated Wednesday morning.

Baez was charged with two errors on the play.

NOTE: The Cubs and Cardinals are bracing for the possibility that Wednesday’s series finale will be rained out, with a storm moving in that’s forecast to linger throughout the day.

The Cardinals were said to be pushing for the would-be makeup game to be played on the teams’ mutual day off Thursday, against the Cubs’ wishes.

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Email: gwittenmyer@suntimes.com