Cubs 8, Cardinals 5
ST. LOUIS -- Second baseman Starlin Castro and first baseman Anthony Rizzo carried the Chicago Cubs to another big offensive game.
Combining for seven RBIs Tuesday night, the duo led Chicago to an 8-5 win over the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium, tightening the National League Central Division race.
Castro went 2-for-4 with a walk, scoring three runs and driving in four, while Rizzo collected a pair of hits and knocked in three runs as the Cubs (80-57) won their fifth straight game and pulled within 6 1/2 games of first place St. Louis.
Castro's RBI double and Rizzo's run-scoring single gave Chicago an 8-0 cushion in the seventh, runs that proved to be vital when the Cardinals rallied against starter Jason Hammel (8-6) and reliever Justin Grimm for all of their runs in their half of the inning.
St. Louis actually put the potential go-ahead run at the plate. But pinch-hitter Randal Grichuk, whose two-run homer into the third deck in left started the uprising, fanned with the bases loaded against Pedro Strop -- the Cubs' fourth pitcher of the inning.
Hammel (8-6) worked six shutout innings before running into trouble, but still earned the win. He was charged with three runs off four hits, walking three and fanning six.
Closer Hector Rondon pitched around a one-out double by second baseman Matt Carpenter in the ninth for his 27th save in 31 chances.
Cardinals starter Michael Wacha (15-5), making his first start since Aug. 28, was rocked for six hits and six runs over four innings with three walks and two strikeouts.
St. Louis (87-51) lost for the fifth time in six games and saw its division lead slip to 4 1/2 games over Pittsburgh, a 7-3 winner in Cincinnati.
For the second straight game, Chicago wasted no time taking a big early lead. Rizzo cracked his 29th homer in the first, a two-run shot off Wacha that traveled 410 feet to the seats in left-center.
Hammel gave the Cubs a 3-0 lead in the second with an RBI single, followed by a three-run homer to left-center by Castro, his seventh of the year. It also went 410 feet.
Hammel also did his job on the mound, checking St. Louis on three hits through five scoreless innings.
NOTES: St. Louis recalled RHP Sam Tuivailala from Triple-A Memphis, marking his fifth and final trip this year on the Memphis-St. Louis shuttle. Tuivailala is 0-1 with a 1.64 ERA in 11 outings with the Cardinals. ... Chicago activated RHP Neil Ramirez (left abdominal soreness) from the 15-day DL and recalled RHP Yoervis Medina from Triple-A Iowa, placing its active roster at 34 players. ... St. Louis 2B Kolten Wong (calf tightness) didn't start for the second straight game. Wong pinch-hit in the ninth inning Monday and reached first base on a wild pitch after strike three.