Cubs 5, Cardinals 1
Alfonso Soriano hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning as the visiting Chicago Cubs put a big dent in the postseason hopes of the rival St. Louis Cardinals with a 5-1 victory on Friday.
Carlos Pena added an RBI double and Ryan Dempster pitched six solid innings for the Cubs, who ensured the Cardinals would not win the National League Central.
St. Louis’ loss, combined with Milwaukee’s 4-1 victory over the Florida Marlins earlier Friday, clinched the division for the Brewers. The Cardinals also dropped three games behind the Atlanta Braves in the wild card race with five to play.
After getting seven strong innings from ace Chris Carpenter, St. Louis went to its bullpen for Kyle McClellan with the score knotted at 1-1 in the eighth. McClellan allowed a leadoff triple to Darwin Barney before inducing a groundout and intentionally walking Pena.
Soriano followed and got a 2-0 fastball over the middle of the plate, driving it into the bullpen in left-center for his 25th homer.
Jeff Samardzija (8-4) got the win in relief.
Starlin Castro recorded two hits, giving him 201 on the season and making the 21-year-old the youngest player in Chicago history to reach 200.