Cubs hold on for 5-4 win over Cardinals

CHICAGO In the span of three pitches Saturday afternoon, the Cubs did what the Cardinals could not do in the first eight innings of the game.

They scored two runs.

On Michael Wacha’s 85th pitch of the game, Jorge Soler launched a solo home run into the bleachers to add to the Cubs’ lead. On Wacha’s 88th pitch, Kris Bryant did the same to the last row of the left-field bleachers. The homers in the fifth inning powered the Cubs to a 5-4 victory at Wrigley Field.

The Cardinals tidied the score in the ninth after Cubs closer Hector Rondon had been ejected from the game for hitting Greg Garcia with a pitch. Matt Carpenter homered against reliever Zac Rosscup. The Cardinals got the tying run on base with no outs.

The game set up nicely for the Cardinals who had Wacha starting opposite a bullpen game for the Cubs. But the combination of Travis Wood and Trevor Cahill was enough to silence the Cardinals increasingly quiet offense when it comes to facing some of the best teams in the National League. The Cardinals had almost as many batters hit (three) as they had hits (five) by the start of the ninth inning.

Wacha pitched five innings and allowed four runs on six hits. He struck out seven but also walked four.

The back-to-back home runs off Wacha came at a good time for the Cubs to reassert their hold on the game.

The Cardinals had just put two runners on base with no outs in the top of the fifth inning. Wacha singled, and Matt Carpenter followed with a single. The next three batters the Nos. 2, 3, 4 hitters in the Cardinals’ lineup failed to advance the runners at all. Wacha was stranded exactly where he got on Carpenter’s single: second base.

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