Cardinals freeze out Cubs, 5-3

[April 18, 2018]  Matt Carpenter knocked in three runs Tuesday night, and Paul DeJong homered as the St. Louis Cardinals stretched their winning streak to five games with a 5-3 verdict over the host Chicago Cubs at frigid Wrigley Field.

Adam Wainwright (1-2) picked up the win by tightroping through five innings. He yielded four hits and an unearned run, walking four and striking out five while plunking two hitters. Wainwright stranded nine men during his stint.

Tyler Chatwood (0-3) absorbed the loss despite giving up just one hit and fanning seven over 4 2/3 innings. He issued seven walks, two of which came around to score in the third inning, and permitted two runs.

St. Louis improved to 10-7 on the year and 8-3 on the road. The Cubs fell to 7-8 for the year and dropped to 2-4 on their season-opening homestand.

The main storyline was the weather. Game-time temperature was 35 degrees with the wind chill at 29, conditions not very far off from Monday night's postponement caused by cold weather and occasional snow flurries.

Both starters had trouble controlling their pitches, and it caught up to Chatwood in the third. After walking Dexter Fowler and Tommy Pham, he gave up his only hit, an RBI double to Carpenter for the game's first run. Marcell Ozuna's groundout plated Pham for a 2-0 edge.

Chicago got a run back in the fourth when Jason Heyward stroked an RBI single to right, scoring Addison Russell. The run was unearned thanks to a Wainwright throwing error.

The score held at 2-1 until a wild eighth inning. DeJong drilled a two-out solo homer to left-center, his fifth. After the Cardinals filled the bases on a pinch-hit infield single by Harrison Bader, a walk to Fowler and Pham's infield hit, Carpenter lined a two-run single to center.

Javier Baez scorched a two-run homer deep to left-center in the Cubs' half of the eighth off Greg Holland. Chicago got the tying run to the plate in the ninth, but Bud Norris polished off his fourth save by slipping a called third strike past Kyle Schwarber.

--Field Level Media

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