O'Neill grateful to be back after 'shooting pain' in back 

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 from being out of there,” said Flaherty, who struck out six. “[Bellinger] put a good swing on it. You tip your cap to [Bellinger].”

The Cardinals are tipping their caps to O’Neill after the way he worked to overcome the injury that threatened to mar a second straight season. The 28-year-old O’Neill hit 34 home runs and drove in 80 runs in 2021, but his '22 season was mostly spoiled by a shoulder injury and multiple hamstring strains. After working throughout the offseason to better condition his body, O’Neill was the Opening Day starter in center field.

After moving back to left field -- where he won Gold Gloves in 2020 and ’21 -- and more struggles at the plate, O’Neill was felled by back pain. He stopped and started a rehab plan three times before eventually travelling to Southern California to see back specialist Dr. Robert Watkins, who gave him epidural and cortisone injections and prescribed rest. Finally, O’Neill got the relief he sought, and it allowed him to return to the Cardinals.

Coincidentally, Friday was the six-year anniversary of O’Neill being traded from the Mariners to the Cardinals, a franchise he hopes to stick with long-term even though rumors continue to swirl that he might be dealt before the Aug. 1 Trade Deadline.

“The Cardinals have a great thing going here and I’m very familiar with these guys -- not just my teammates, but also the staff,” said O’Neill, who reiterated his desire to remain a Cardinal. “In terms of big league talking, [the Cardinals] are all I know. I love it here and we’ll see what happens.”