Soler leads onslaught as Cubs drub Cards

[May 25, 2016]  ST. LOUIS -- Just like Alfred E. Neuman, the Chicago Cubs had no reason to worry.

"We don't hit the panic button when we don't score runs or pitch," pitcher Jason Hammel said. "It's a 162-game season. It's part of the ebb and flow of the season. We're not robots; we can't do it the whole time."

But Chicago sure did it Tuesday night, jumping on slumping St. Louis Cardinals starter Michael Wacha for six first-inning runs and never looking back in a 12-3 blowout that ended its season-high three-game losing streak.

Hammel and David Ross each stroked two-run doubles to cap the first inning explosion, but the Cubs were by no means done. Jorge Soler drove Wacha to cover with a two-run homer in the fifth and Chicago teed off on rookie Dean Kiekhefer in the ninth for four more runs, its blue-shirted fans turning Busch Stadium into Wrigley Field South by the time it was over.

Given considerable cushion before he toed the mound, Hammel (6-1) produced an outing that could have won with much less support. The veteran right-hander went 7 1/3 innings, yielding only four hits and a run with three walks and four strikeouts.

Hammel, whose shutout bid ended on Brandon Moss' one-out RBI double in the eighth, said he didn't have good stuff.

"Honestly, I wasn't that good tonight," he said. "My two-strike execution could have been a lot better. I got away with a lot of stuff tonight. It was nice to have the run support."

In losing six of their previous eight games, the Cubs (30-14) were held to three runs or less in every game but an 8-1 rout of San Francisco Friday night. But the struggling Wacha (2-5), who hasn't won in his last six starts, proved the perfect cure for their ails.

Three batters into the game, Chicago owned a lead it would never relinquish on Kris Bryant's RBI single. Soler added a bases-loaded walk three hitters later for a 2-0 lead, and Ross and Hammel followed one out later with their clutch hits.

Pulled after Soler's fourth homer of the year, Wacha allowed a career-high eight runs on eight hits and four walks, striking out four. In his last three starts, Wacha has given up a whopping 20 runs, becoming the first St. Louis starter since Mike Maroth in 2007 to permit six runs or more in three consecutive starts.

"It's a pretty discouraging start," Wacha said. "I never really gave the team a chance to win. That first inning, I just wasn't very good. I just got to get back to the way I like to pitch and that's pounding the strike zone, down in the zone."

Cubs left fielder Jorge Soler (68) celebrates with teammates after hitting a home run against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

While Wacha floundered, Hammel cruised. He gave up only one hit through five innings and lowered his earned run average to 2.17 through nine starts, marking himself as a potential All-Star candidate.

"The biggest thing is he knows where his fastball is going," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said of Hammel. "His ball has great movement on it, so he gets a lot of mis-hits, and his breaking ball has great movement on it. It was really pertinent as the game went on."

Randal Grichuk collected two hits and an RBI for the Cardinals (24-22), while shortstop Aledmys Diaz provided a highlight-film defensive play with a twisting over-the-shoulder catch of Anthony Rizzo's pop fly in the second, turning it into a double play.

But the game's remainder was all Chicago, all the time, as its offense produced the key hits that have eluded it for most of the prior eight games.

"We've been playing well, but we got off the mark quickly tonight," Maddon said. "We got hits and we had good at-bats early."

NOTES: St. Louis SS Jhonny Peralta (left thumb) served as DH for Class A Peoria during the fourth game of his rehab assignment Tuesday night, going 2-for-3 with a run. ... Chicago RF Jason Heyward (rib cage contusion) returned to the lineup for Tuesday night's game and was 0-for-5. Heyward missed the last three games after being injured while making a sprawling catch at the wall in the first inning Friday night at San Francisco. ... Matt Adams' pinch-hit two-run homer Monday night gave the Cardinals nine on the year, one shy of their franchise record. By contrast, 16 MLB teams haven't belted a pinch-homer in 2016.

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