By MATT PIKE
Seiya Suzuki homered in his fourth straight game, Javier Assad pitched shutout ball into the sixth inning and the playoff-bound Chicago Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals 2-0 Sunday aftrnoon at Wrigley Field for a three-game series sweep to close out the regular season.
Kyle Leahy opened for the Cardinals with three scoreless innings, allowing one hit. John King, who took took the loss falling to 2-1 on the season, was the second of four St. Louis relievers allowed one run while getting four outs.
Suzuki lined a solo homer off King to the left-center bleachers leading off the bottom of the fifth. The Cubs added an unearned run in the seventh when Moises Ballesteros singled and scored Kevin Alcantara from second.
Suzuki hit five homers and drove in 10 runs in his last four games. He raised his season totals to 32 homers and a team-leading 103 RBI.
The Cardinals did have an opportunity to tie up the game, but with Thomas Saggese on second in the ninth, Jordan Wicks struck out Jordan Walker and Jimmy Crooks to end the game.
At the plate, Saggese was 2-for-4. Victor Scott II was also 2-for-3 in the loss. The Cardinals, at 78-84, finished in fourth place in the NL Central and out of the playoffs for the third straight season.
The Cubs host the San Diego Padres in the best-of-three NL Wild Card series beginning Tuesday.
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