St. Louis Cardinals vs Chicago Cubs Match Player Stats On Jun 03, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Jun 3, 2017

CHICAGO -- Kyle Schwarber hit his first career grand slam to put the Chicago Cubs ahead in a 5-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday afternoon.

Schwarber homered on the first pitch after Mike Leake allowed two singles and hit a batter to load the bases in the seventh. Entering Saturday with a .163 batting average, Schwarber was hitting ninth.

Chicago manager Joe Maddon said he moved Schwarber to the ninth spot because he disliked the results of Schwarber batting seventh on Friday, when he went 0-for-2 with two strikeouts. Schwarber struggled in the leadoff role earlier this season.

Javier Baez also hit a home run for the Cubs, who have won two straight after losing six in a row.

Wade Davis earned his 12th save and Hector Rondon (1-1) notched the win.

Leake (5-4), who was leading the National League with a 2.24 ERA, gave up all but one of his five runs in the seventh inning. He exited after issuing a walk following Schwarber's ninth home run.

The Cubs rallied after starter Jon Lester gave up three runs and six hits in six innings, raising his ERA to 3.91.

Lester was coming off a rough outing against the Los Angeles Dodgers, when he allowed a season-high six runs in 3 1/3 innings. Entering Saturday, Lester owned a 1.80 ERA at home compared to a 7.11 road ERA.

Yadier Molina extended the Cardinals' lead to 3-1 with his sixth home run, a full-count, two-out solo shot in the sixth inning. Lester has allowed three home runs in his last two starts.

The Cardinals went ahead on Jose Martinez's two-run single after Lester loaded the bases with no outs on a walk, a bunt single and another walk in the first inning.

Baez's ninth home run -- a solo shot -- cut the lead in half in the third.

Lester, known for his troubles throwing to first base, picked off Pham off first in the fifth inning.

NOTES: Manager Joe Maddon said he had LF Kyle Schwarber bat ninth Saturday because the Cardinals took advantage of the eighth hitter and the pitcher being behind him Friday. Batting ninth, Schwarber is similar to another leadoff batter and gives him possibly one fewer at-bat, Maddon said. Schwarber understood the change, Maddon added. ... SS Addison Russell was out of the Cubs starting lineup, but he pinch hit. He's batting .211. ... The Cardinals went with a right-handed lineup against LHP Jon Lester. OF Magneuris Sierra, who was called up from Double-A Springfield on Friday, was on the bench. ... INF Matt Carpenter was out of the Cardinals' starting lineup. He's hitting .216.