Tyler O’Neill getting back in groove as Cardinals lose to Cubs

CHICAGO — The Cardinals lost one of their most frustrating games of the season to the Cubs when outfielder Tyler O’Neill couldn’t advance any farther than third base because of a series of bizarre events on Friday. However, there was a moment when O’Neill took a second to look around, marvel at the sun-splashed day at Wrigley Field, soak in the noise from the raucous crowd and gain some valuable perspective.

Why, just 2 1/2 months earlier, the musclebound O’Neill was having so much back pain that he couldn’t hold his 5-month-old daughter, Audrie, in his ripped arms. Around that same time, O’Neill would often awaken in the middle of the night with back pain so bad that it repeatedly sent numbing bolts down his leg.

Flash forward to Friday, and there was O’Neill on base for a fifth time in his first two games back since May 4. He couldn’t help but be jolted back to the low moments of early May, when walking upright was a problem. The Cardinals lost a 4-3 heartbreaker to the Cubs, but that pain was no comparison to what O’Neill endured two-plus months earlier.

“Pretty much everyday life was tough to get through, but I’m a grinder and I wanted to push through it,” O’Neill said, referring to the back pain that ultimately landed him on the 60-day Injured List on May 5. “It got to the point where I couldn’t even hold my baby girl — not even 11 or 12 pounds at the time — and I’m waking up in the middle of the night with shooting pain down my leg on a consistent basis.

“I tried working through it in May and I got a second opinion in June, and I’m happy with how the process went and how I’m feeling now. That’s what’s most important.”

A night after getting on base three times in the Cardinals’ 7-2 win on Thursday, O’Neill singled and scored the team’s first run on Friday. In the eighth with the Cardinals trailing by one, O’Neill drew a leadoff walk, moved to second on a Jordan Walker walk and then used his speed to swipe third. However, he would frustratingly remain there when Alec Burleson grounded into a double play after being called for two strikes that Statcast metrics showed to be off the plate.

“I was doing everything in my power to not do what I did and [the umpire] forced my hand a little bit,” said Burleson, who was ejected for arguing balls and strikes. “A couple of months ago, I might get overanxious and swing at those pitches, but I was doing everything in my power to stay in the zone.”

The loss ended the Cardinals season-best winning streak at six games, and it interrupted a run where they had won eight of the previous nine. All four Cubs runs came in the fourth off Jack Flaherty on extra-base hits — homers by rookie Miles Mastrobuoni and Cody Bellinger and an RBI double by Mike Tauchman. Flaherty came in not only having won four straight, but he had allowed just one home run in his previous 65 1/3 innings before Friday’s deciding third.

“I mean, I’m one pitch away…