By MATT PIKE
Nine unanswered runs by the Chicago Cubs through the first five innings were to much for the St. Louis Cardinals to overcome on Saturday evening at Busch Stadium, and the Cubs evened up the series with the Redbirds with a 9-1 win.
The Cubs took the lead in the first inning, scoring two runs. Kyle Tucker's RBI single drove in Michael Busch after he led the inning off with a double, and after stealing second base Tucker later scored on an RBI single by former Cardinal Carson Kelly. Chicago extended the lead in the second inning with four more runs Busch hitting a three run home run, his 22nd of the season scoring Dansby Swanson and Matt Shaw, with the final run coming on another RBI single from Kelly, this time driving in Seiya Suzuki after his 26th double of the season.
With the 6-0 lead, the Cubs scored another run in the third inning on an RBI triple by Shaw, driving in Swanson, one run in the fourth inning with an RBI single from Ian Happ scoring Tucker, and a final run in the fifth inning coming on a solo home run by Shaw, his eighth of the season, putting Chicago up 9-0 by the end of five innings.
The Cardinals scored their lone run in the sixth inning as Lars Nootbaar led the inning off with a double and came around to score on a ground out by Alec Burleson. St. Louis had seven hits on the day, with seven different batters getting one hit each.
Andre Pallante took the loss, falling to 6-9 on the season, pitching 1 2/3 innings and giving up six runs on seven hits while walking one. At the plate, Nolan Gorman was 1-for-2 with two walks. Burleson was 0-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.
St. Louis and Chicago wrap up their series tomorrow. Sonny Gray (10-5, 4.21 ERA) takes the mound for the Cardinals in the finale against Shota Imanaga (8-4, 3.12 ERA) for the Cubs. First pitch is at 6:10pm with coverage beginning around 6 on KY 102 (102.5 FM).
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