Cubs 6, Cardinals 3
ST. LOUIS -- With some help from the St. Louis Cardinals, the Chicago Cubs used the second inning to flip home-field advantage to the North Side.
Two throwing errors led to five unearned runs, a lead that the Chicago bullpen helped protect with 4 1/3 scoreless innings Saturday in a 6-3 victory that squared the best-of-five National League Division Series at a game each.
Left-hander Travis Wood picked up the win with 2 1/3 innings of relief, allowing just one hit and fanning two. Right-hander Trevor Cahill and closer Hector Rondon got the last six outs, with Rondon notching the save.
Starter Jaime Garcia absorbed the loss, leaving after two innings with what St. Louis officials announced was a stomach virus. Garcia gave up four hits and five runs, walking one and fanning two.
His throwing error on a squeeze bunt by pitcher Kyle Hendricks scored left fielder Austin Jackson -- who reached on a fielder's choice when second baseman Kolten Wong threw a potential double play ball into his team's dugout -- to ignite the big second inning. Garcia appeared to have a play at the plate, hesitated and threw wide of first.
Shortstop Addison Russell then squeezed home catcher Miguel Montero for a 2-1 Cubs lead. Center fielder Dexter Fowler's infield single plated Hendricks and right fielder Jorge Soler followed with a two-run homer to center.
Montero added an RBI groundout in the third for Chicago's last run.
All of the Cardinals' scoring occurred on solo homers. Third baseman Matt Carpenter led off the first with a 412-foot blast to center field. Wong and pinch-hitter Randal Grichuk belted two-out homers in the fifth.
But St. Louis' offense managed just two hits after that, never even bringing the tying run to the plate.
Game 3 is Monday at Wrigley Field with 22-game winner Jake Arrieta taking the mound for the Cubs against Cardinals right-hander Michael Wacha.
NOTES: St. Louis pitchers limited opponents to a major league-low .210 average with runners in scoring position during the regular season and lived up to that stat in Game 1, retiring Chicago in all three of its at-bats in that situation. ... Cardinals manager Mike Matheny is the only MLB skipper to bring his team to the playoffs in each of his first four seasons. ... At age 25, Cubs RHP Kyle Hendricks on Saturday became his team's youngest postseason starter since 22-year old Carlos Zambrano started in the 2003 NLCS against Florida.