Cubs hold off Cardinals for 8-5 victory

ST. LOUIS Having blasted the Cardinals 9-0 on Monday, the surging Chicago Cubs scored eight more times and held on for a 8-5 win Tuesday at Busch Stadium III.

The Cubs raced out to lead of 2-0 and 6-0 in the first two innings. They made it 8-0 in the top of the seventh before the Cardinals came to life.

The home team rallied with five runs in the bottom of the seventh, making a game of it. But Chicago (80-57) eventually closed the door, winning for the fifth time in succession and moving to within 61/2 games of the National League Central-leading Cardinals (87-51).

The Cardinals have lost four of five after enjoying a stretch of nine wins in 10 games. For the second day in a row, a well-rested Cardinals starter was no match. Working with 10 days of rest, Michael Wacha (15-5) allowed six hits, six runs and two home runs over four innings.

A highlight for most of the 44,206 came from an unexpected source. After Yadier Molina walked to start the seventh, Randal Grichuk came off the bench to pinch-hit for reliever Carlos Villanueva.

Cardinals manager Mike Matheny had indicated the recently-activated Grichuk wasn’t likely to get an at-bat until later this week.

But Grichuk drove a 1-0 pitch 451 feet into the seating section above the “Big Mac Land” sign in left field. His 16th homer of the season, off Cubs starter Jason Hammel (8-6), came on Grichuk’s first at-bat since Aug. 16, or since he went on the disabled list with a strained right elbow.

And he would get another at-bat before the inning was over. The Cardinals kept coming. They loaded the bases before Stephen Piscotty singled home two more, cutting the deficit to 8-4. Moments later, pinch-hitter Tony Cruz singled home another run, and the score became 8-5.

With the bases loaded and two outs, Grichuk was back at the plate. But this time, Cubs reliever Pedro Strop struck out Grichuk out to end the rally.

Chicago sprinted to a 6-0 lead against Wacha in the first two innings, fueled by the home runs of Anthony Rizzo and Starlin Castro.

The visitors added on in the seventh. Austin Jackson doubled to start the frame against reliever Villanueva. Castro who had a three-run homer in the second lined a drive past a diving Tommy Pham for a double, scoring Jackson to make it 7-0.

Rizzo who launched a two-run homer in the first singled home Castro and the score was 8-0. At that point, Castro had four runs batted in and Rizzo had three in the robust Chicago attack.

Also at that point, the Cardinals had been outscored 24-1 over the past three days. But that was before Grichuk unloaded his homer into the upper deck, giving the locals among the 42,206 spectators something to cheer about, and giving the Cardinals new life.

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