Field Level Media
Jun 8, 2019
Victor Caratini delivered a pinch-hit, tiebreaking, three-run double in the sixth inning, and the host Chicago Cubs pulled away for a 9-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday night.
Kyle Schwarber doubled, homered and drove in two runs for the Cubs, while Javier Baez finished with a triple and two RBIs. Chicago fell behind 4-0 in the first inning but scored the next nine runs to notch its fifth victory in the past six games.
Marcell Ozuna and Harrison Bader homered for St. Louis, which dropped back to .500 with its third loss in the past four games. The Cardinals fell to 0-5 at Wrigley Field this season.
Cubs left-hander Jon Lester (5-4) overcame a rocky first inning to earn the win. He gave up four runs on five hits in six innings while walking two and striking out six.
Cardinals right-hander John Brebbia (1-3) took the loss in relief after allowing two runs in 1 1/3 innings.
Caratini came through with the bases loaded to put the Cubs on top. He laced an opposite-field double down the left-field line to bring in Jason Heyward, David Bote and Albert Almora Jr. Ozuna tried to make a sliding catch but the ball got behind him.
Schwarber added a double in the next at-bat to score Caratini and push the Cubs' lead to 8-4.
Addison Russell capped the scoring with a sacrifice fly in the seventh.
The Cardinals jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first thanks to a three-run homer from Ozuna and a solo shot from Bader. Ozuna swung on a 3-0 pitch and pounded a fastball an estimated 437 feet to center field for his 17th home run. Bader followed two batters later by belting a first-pitch fastball to left field for his sixth homer.
The Cubs scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the first to trim the deficit to 4-2. Baez contributed an RBI groundout before Willson Contreras drove in a run with a single to right field.
In the third, the Cubs pulled within 4-3 when Baez tripled to deep left field to score Anthony Rizzo.
A solo homer by Schwarber evened the score at 4 in the fourth. The blast culminated an 11-pitch at-bat that included five consecutive foul balls on a 3-2 count. It was Schwarber's 12th homer of the season.
--Field Level Media