Molina homers twice to help Cardinals beat Cubs
ST. LOUIS (AP) – Yadier Molina homered twice and Adam Wainwright threw seven shutout innings to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 5-0 win over the Chicago Cubs on Sunday.
Matt Carpenter also homered for St. Louis, which won for the eighth time in nine games. Chicago has lost three of four.
Molina recorded the third multi-homer game of his career. His last came on Aug. 21, 2011 at Wrigley Field. He drilled a two-run homer off Jake Arrieta (4-3) in the second inning and added a solo blast in the eighth.
Wainwright (3-3) allowed four hits in a 102-pitch stint. He struck out three and walked four. Trevor Rosenthal and Kevin Siegrist each pitched a perfect inning to complete the four-hitter.
Carpenter’s two-run drive came in the third. He was 1-for-31 before the round-tripper against Arrieta, his friend and college teammate at TCU.
Wainwright’s seven-inning effort was his longest of the season.
Randal Grichuk added three hits for St. Louis, which won two out of three from the world champions.
Chicago had runners on in six of the first seven innings.
MOTHER’S DAY MANIA
A crowd of 47,925 attended the contest, the largest crowd in the history of Busch Stadium III. The three-game series drew 143,408.
MAGIC NUMBER ON HOLD
Chicago manager Joe Maddon has 999 career wins in stints with Anaheim, Tampa Bay and Chicago. He is looking to become the eighth active manager to hit the 1,000-win plateau.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Cubs: INF Kris Bryant missed his third successive game with the stomach flu. INF Addison Russell returned to the starting lineup after missing three starts with a right shoulder ailment.
Cardinals: LHP Tyler Lyons was sent to Single-A Peoria on a 30-day rehabilitation assignment. He is out with a right muscle strain.
UP NEXT
Cubs: RHP John Lackey (3-3, 4.29) opens up a three-game series against Cincinnati on Tuesday in the first game of a 10-game homestand. RHP Bronson Arroyo (3-2, 5.94) will start for the Reds.
Cardinals: RHP Lance Lynn (4-1, 2.75) takes on Boston LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (1-1, 2.80) in the first of a two-game series on Tuesday.