Happ, Schwarber hit HRs as Cubs beat Cardinals

[August 19, 2020]  Ian Happ and Kyle Schwarber each clubbed home runs, and the Chicago Cubs held on for a 6-3 win over the visiting St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday night.

Jason Heyward added an RBI triple for Chicago, which earned its second win in a row over St. Louis. The teams are scheduled to meet for a doubleheader Wednesday to cap off a stretch of five games in three days.

Paul Goldschmidt and Matt Carpenter drove in one run apiece for the Cardinals.

Cubs starter Yu Darvish (4-1) picked up his fourth straight victory after allowing one run on eight hits in six innings. The right-hander walked one and struck out seven.

Right-hander Daniel Ponce de Leon (0-2), the St. Louis starter, gave up two runs on three hits in 3 1/3 innings. He struck out seven and walked three.

The Cubs played without star third baseman Kris Bryant, who received an injection in his aching left wrist and is expected to be sidelined until Friday at the earliest.

Chicago jumped to a 1-0 lead on Happ's solo shot in the third inning. It was his fifth home run of the season and his second in the past three games.

The Cardinals loaded the bases with nobody out in the fourth but did not score. Darvish fielded Dylan Carlson's dribbler in front of the mound and flipped a throw home for the first out of the inning. He then fanned Dexter Fowler and retired Matt Wieters on a lazy fly ball to right field to escape the jam.

Heyward pushed the Cubs' lead to 2-0 in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI triple into the right-field corner.

Cubs center fielder Ian Happ (8) rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run against the St. Louis Cardinals during the third inning at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

St. Louis sliced the deficit to 2-1 in the fifth. Kolten Wong singled to left field, advanced to second on a groundout by Tommy Edman and came home on Goldschmidt's single.

Chicago responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the frame to go ahead 4-1. Javier Baez led off with a double, and in the next at-bat Schwarber hit a 416-foot blast to right field for his fourth homer.

In the seventh, Victor Caratini and Jason Kipnis drove in one run apiece to make it 6-1.

St. Louis climbed within 6-3 in the eighth. Edman scored on Carpenter's RBI single, and Goldschmidt scored as Carlson grounded into a double play.

Cubs reliever Rowan Wick notched his fourth save by recording the final four outs.

--Field Level Media

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