Cardinals rout Cubs for 50th win
St. Louis, MO (SportsNetwork.com) - Kolten Wong, Matt Carpenter and Xavier Scruggs each knocked in two runs and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Chicago Cubs 8-1 on Saturday for their 50th win of the season.
Scruggs had three hits for the MLB-leading Cardinals, who have won five in a row to improve to 50-24, including 28-7 at home. They won the first game of this series 3-2 on Friday in 10 innings.
"It means a lot, just to be able to contribute," said Scraggs. "The team is already rolling, so for me to come in and help add a little something to the team is big."
Cardinals right-hander Michael Wacha (10-3) picked up Saturday's win in six innings, allowing just one run on six hits and two walks while striking out five.
Chicago's Donn Roach (0-1) went just 3 1/3 innings after being called up from Triple-A Iowa to make hit second career major league start. The right-hander, whose first start came more than 13 months ago, was charged with four runs on eight hits and a walk but also contributed an RBI single.
The Cubs have dropped four in a row.
"We just have to do better," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said.
The Cardinals turned double plays to escape jams in the second, third and fourth innings, then built an 8-1 lead with four runs in each of their next two at-bats.
Jason Heyward hit a leadoff single in the fourth and Yadier Molina followed with an RBI double to start that rally. Molina scored on Scruggs' hit and the Cardinals loaded the bases later on when Wacha reached on an infield single that deflected off Roach on the right-hander's final pitch.
Carpenter punctuated the flurry with a two-run single off Travis Wood to make it 4-1.
Heyward started the fifth-inning rally as well with a leadoff walk against Woods and scored on Randal Grichuk's double. Scruggs also hit an RBI double and Wong made it 8-1 with a two-run ground-rule double.
After Roach escaped a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the first inning on a double play, the Cubs took a 1-0 lead in the second on the right-hander's second career hit, an RBI single.
Game Notes
Carlos Villanueva worked around a walk in the seventh and eighth innings and also stranded a runner on base in the ninth for a three-inning save, his first of the season ... The Cardinals are 6-2 against the Cubs this season.