Before the first pitch even mattered, St. Louis put on a show. The Cardinals rolled out a full flag ceremony for the 4th of July, with a Marine honor guard and a stadium-sized flag stretched across the outfield grass for a God Bless America tribute tied to the country's 250th anniversary.
The pregame tribute at Busch Stadium leaned all the way into the 250th anniversary theme.
Once the flag came off the field, the Cardinals kept the party going. They jumped on Cubs starter Shota Imanaga early, with a runner rounding the bases on an opposite-field homer that put St. Louis up in the top of the 1st while the dugout emptied in celebration.
St. Louis wasted no time, going deep off Imanaga to grab an early lead.
Imanaga settled in after that, though, and turned a rough start into a genuine event. Fans watching along tracked him working deeper and deeper into a no-hit bid, gassed but still battling into the 9th before the Cubs mobbed the mound in celebration of the finished no-hitter.
Imanaga's teammates swarmed the infield once he closed out the no-hitter.
None of that heroics mattered in the standings, though, because the game just would not end. Big Cat summed up the slog perfectly, cracking that a foggy drone shot of the stadium was the best thing the Cubs had done in the last 12 innings. By the time it was over, the Cubs had come out on the wrong side of the marathon, no-hitter and all.