Cardinals complete sweep of Cubs
CHICAGO -- Michael Wacha snapped a personal streak of 10 straight starts without a win while the St. Louis Cardinals completed their first series sweep at Wrigley Field in 28 years with a 7-2 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday.
Wacha (3-7) allowed two runs on three hits over 6 2/3 innings as he broke a personal seven-game losing streak that dated back to late April.
Cubs starter Jake Arrieta (11-2) took the loss after a season-low-tying five-inning effort. He gave up two runs (one earned) on four hits while walking four and striking out six.
The Cardinals (38-33) won their third straight and claimed their first three-game sweep in Chicago since May 17-19, 1988. The Cubs (47-23) saw their losing streak reach three.
Wacha last won on April 23, when the Cardinals beat the Padres 11-2. A hard-luck streak of seven losses and three no-decisions followed.
St. Louis broke a scoreless tie in the fifth inning when Arrieta loaded the bases with two walks and a single to Aledmys DIaz.
Stephen Piscotty grounded to third for an apparent inning-ending double play. Instead, an error on Ben Zobrist's throw to first allowed Matt Carpenter and Diaz to score.
The Cardinals made it 3-0 with none out in the sixth and Justin Grimm working in relief.
Brandon Moss doubled and reached third on a wild pitch. He came home on Yadier Molina's fielder's choice on a play that forced starting catcher Miguel Montero out of the game as he tried to tag Moss at the plate.
Rookie Willson Contreras replaced Montero, who had his right knee examined. His status was not immediately known.
Kolten Wong singled to center, putting runners on first and second. Molina and Wong both came home on Carpenter's double to right-center for a 5-0 lead.
Grimm departed and Diaz greeted reliever Carl Edwards Jr. with a solo home run on a 1-0 pitch that also drove in Carpenter for the Cardinals' sixth and seventh runs.
Chris Coghlan was the Cubs first baserunner as he walked to open the Chicago fourth. He was quickly doubled up when Jason Heyward flew into a double play. But Kris Bryant then walked and Anthony Rizzo singled to left for the Cubs first hit.
The runners were stranded when Zobrist grounded to second to close the inning.
Addison Russell collected the Cubs' second hit in the seventh with a one-out double to deep left. He came home on Contreras' second home run since Sunday, a two-out shot that landed in the left-field bleachers.
That was the end for Wacha, who struck out five and walked two while throwing 106 pitches. He was replaced by right-hander Seth Maness.
Skies cleared after a rainy morning and Wednesday's game started on time under partly sunny skies as the teams took advantage of a several-hour window between storm fronts.
NOTES: St. Louis has Thursday off before opening a three-game weekend interleague series on Friday at Seattle. The set will mark the Cardinals' first trip to the Pacific Northwest since 2002. ... St. Louis RHP Carlos Martinez (7-5, 3.17 ERA) will make his 14th start of the season and face Taijuan Walker (3-6, 3.45 ERA). ... The Cardinals entered Wednesday's series finale riding a seven-game road winning streak, their longest since an eight-game run in 1982. ... Five Cubs remain National League All-Star Game position leaders in the latest voting announced Thursday, including 1B Anthony Rizzo, 2B Ben Zobrist, 3B Kris Bryant, SS Addison Russell and OF Dexter Fowler. OF Jason Heyward is fourth while OF Jorge Soler is sixth. ... Cardinals C Yadier Molina leads at that position. ... The Cubs hit the road for a four-game series that opens at Miami on Thursday. LHP Jon Lester (9-3, 2.06 ERA) will make his 15th start of the season and seeks his fifth straight win as he goes against Marlins LHP Wei-Yin Chen (4-2, 5.22 ERA).