Cubs 6, Cardinals 3
No-hit for five-plus innings, the Chicago Cubs woke up and snapped a five-game losing streak Sunday night, winning 6-3 in St. Louis.
Ryan Dempster (8-8) went six innings for the win and Alfonso Soriano ripped his 17th homer as Chicago beat its archrival for just the second time in nine tries.
Starlin Castro’s ground-rule double broke a scoreless tie in the sixth, scoring Koyie Hill, who had walked. Hill was Chicago’s first baserunner after Jake Westbrook (9-5) retired the first 16 batters.
The Cubs added three more runs that inning on a bases-loaded walk and Marlon Byrd’s two-run opposite-field single.
Cardinals right fielder Lance Berkman returned to the lineup after missing four starts with a shoulder strain and rocketed a three-run homer to center, his National League-leading 28th.
That cut the deficit to 4-3 in the sixth, but Cubs relievers induced two double plays to hold the Cards at bay.
Soriano's ninth-inning homer provided two insurance runs to drop St. Louis 2 ½ games behind division-leading Milwaukee in the NL Central.
Newly acquired Rafael Furcal pinch-hit in the seventh for the Cardinals, grounding into a force-out.