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Cardinals complete sweep of Cubs

[June 23, 2016] CHICAGO -- Michael Wacha said he's been building toward a welcomed breakthrough.

The right-hander snapped a personal streak of 10 straight starts without a win as the St. Louis Cardinals completed a three-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs with a 7-2 victory on Wednesday.

"Stuff was coming out of the hand good, the defense was playing great behind me with a ton of great plays," said Wacha (3-7), who also stopped a seven-game losing skid. "It kept me in there for a while. I was pretty happy about it."

Wacha, who had two no-decisions in his last three starts, allowed just two runs on three hits over 6 2/3 innings against Chicago.

He also beat Cubs ace Jake Arrieta, the reigning Cy Young Award winner who took the loss after a season low-tying five-inning effort.

The Cardinals (38-33) won their third straight and earned their first three-game sweep in Chicago since May 17-19, 1988. The Cubs (47-23) saw their losing streak reach three games.

"The guys kind of bought into each game and not looking too far ahead," St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. "I thought they did a nice job today really grinding at-bats and really pushing and just fighting off some tough pitches from obviously a good pitcher and then putting the pedal down."

Wacha last won on April 23, when the Cardinals posted an 11-2 victory over the Padres. A hard-luck streak of seven losses and three no-decisions followed.

St. Louis broke a scoreless tie in the fifth inning when Arrieta loaded the bases with two walks and a single to Aledmys Diaz.

Stephen Piscotty grounded to third for an apparent inning-ending double play. Instead, an error on Ben Zobrist's throw to first allowed Matt Carpenter and Diaz to score.

"I thought the big play of the game was not turning the double play when Piscotty hit the ball," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. "Jake struggled through five and could have got out of it with nothing and we could have moved it along a different way. But that play gave them some momentum and their guy pitched well."

Arrieta gave up two runs (one earned) on four hits while walking four and striking out six.

The Cardinals made it 3-0 with none out in the sixth and Justin Grimm working in relief.

Brandon Moss doubled and reached third on a wild pitch. He came home on Yadier Molina's fielder's choice on a play that forced starting catcher Miguel Montero out of the game as he tried to tag Moss at the plate.

Rookie Willson Contreras replaced Montero, who had his right knee examined. Maddon said after the game that Montero was not hurt.

Kolten Wong singled to center, putting runners on first and second. Molina and Wong both came home on Carpenter's double to right-center for a 5-0 lead.

Grimm departed and Diaz greeted reliever Carl Edwards Jr. with a solo home run on a 1-0 pitch that also drove in Carpenter for the Cardinals' sixth and seventh runs.

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Cardinals left fielder Brandon Moss (left) and center fielder Kolten Wong (center) and right fielder Stephen Piscotty (right) celebrate their victory over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Cardinals won 7-2. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports

Diaz went 3-for-4 to pace the Cardinals and had his fifth game with three or more hits.

"The one who stood out for me was Diaz and how he just kept going and going and fighting off good pitches, hard pitches and soft, in and out," Matheny said. "That pays a toll not just on a pitcher but on the defense."

Chris Coghlan was the Cubs first baserunner as he walked to open the Chicago fourth. He was quickly doubled up when Jason Heyward flew into a double play. But Kris Bryant walked and Anthony Rizzo singled to left for the Cubs' first hit.

The runners were stranded when Zobrist grounded to second to close the inning.

Addison Russell collected the Cubs' second hit in the seventh with a one-out double to deep left. He came home on Contreras' second home run since Sunday, a two-out shot that landed in the left-field bleachers.

That was the end for Wacha, who struck out five and walked two while throwing 106 pitches. He was replaced by right-hander Seth Maness.

NOTES: St. Louis has Thursday off before opening a three-game weekend interleague series on Friday at Seattle. The set will mark the Cardinals' first trip to the Pacific Northwest since 2002. ... St. Louis RHP Carlos Martinez (7-5, 3.17 ERA) will make his 14th start of the season and face Taijuan Walker (3-6, 3.45 ERA). ... The Cardinals eighth win in a row on the road matched a eight-game run in 1982. ... Five Cubs remain National League All-Star Game position leaders in the latest voting announced Thursday, including 1B Anthony Rizzo, 2B Ben Zobrist, 3B Kris Bryant, SS Addison Russell and OF Dexter Fowler. OF Jason Heyward is fourth while OF Jorge Soler is sixth. ... Cardinals C Yadier Molina leads at that position. ... The Cubs hit the road for a four-game series that opens at Miami on Thursday. LHP Jon Lester (9-3, 2.06 ERA) will make his 15th start of the season and seeks his fifth straight win as he goes against Marlins LHP Wei-Yin Chen (4-2, 5.22 ERA).

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