St. Louis Cardinals vs Chicago Cubs Box Score on Jul 23, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Jul 23, 2017

CHICAGO -- Willson Contreras snapped a tie with a two-run home run in the sixth inning, leading the Chicago Cubs to a 5-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday and a tie for first place in the National League Central.

The Cubs took two of three in the weekend series.

Contreras drove in Kris Bryant with his 15th home run, the top total among National League catchers.

The Cubs (51-46) caught Milwaukee (53-48) in the division with their eighth victory in nine games. Chicago has made up a 5 1/2-game deficit on the Brewers since the All-Star break.

The Cardinals (47-51) absorbed their fourth loss in five games and fell 4 1/2 games out in the NL Central.

Cubs starter Jose Quintana, 2-0 since coming from the Chicago White Sox on July 13 and 6-8 overall, worked six innings for the victory. He allowed three runs on five hits, walked two and struck out seven.

Cardinals starter Michael Wacha (7-4) pitched six innings in his 100th career start. He allowed five runs on six hits, struck out six and gave up two home runs.

Cubs closer Wade Davis gave up a leadoff single in the ninth before retiring the next three batters for his 20th save.

Bryant went 2-for-4 to lead the Cubs. Jedd Gyorko, Randal Grichuk and Paul DeJong each had two hits for the Cardinals.

The Cardinals were denied in the first as Jason Heyward made a leaping grab at the wall in right for one out, and left fielder Kyle Schwarber and Addison Russell collaborated to stop Cardinals leadoff batter Matt Carpenter from reaching home on Gyorko's double with two gone.

Schwarber picked up the ball on a rebound and threw to Russell. The shortstop fired to catcher Contreras, who tagged Carpenter as they pair collided.

Carpenter did not return for the second inning due to right quad tightness. He was replaced by Luke Voit.

St. Louis got on the board in the second with Grichuk's two-run, one-out home run to center in the second. Grichuk, who now has five homers in his past seven games and 12 for the season, drove in Yadier Molina for a 2-0 lead.

The Cubs replied with a pair of third-inning runs as Russell doubled to lead off and came home on Heyward's RBI two-base hit to deep right with two gone. Heyward, in turn, scored on Bryant's bloop single to right.

DeJong's 12th homer into the left field basket with two out in the fourth opened a 3-2 St. Louis lead. Schwarber matched it in the bottom of the inning with his one-out blast deep into the right field bleachers for his 15th home run and first since July 14.

NOTES: The Cardinals wound up 4-6 on a road trip that ended Sunday. They open a seven-game home set on Monday as RHP Mike Leake (6-8, 3.39 ERA) goes against Colorado RHP Antonio Senzatela (10-3, 4.67 ERA) in the opener of a three-game series. ... The Cardinals and Cubs meet again in a three-game series in mid-September. ... The crosstown White Sox visit the Cubs for two interleague games on Monday and Tuesday. Cubs RHP Kyle Hendricks (4-3, 4.09 ERA) makes his first start since a seven-week stay on the disabled list after recovering from right hand tendinitis. He goes against White Sox RHP Miguel Gonzalez (4-9, 4.89 ERA). The teams travel to Guaranteed Rate Field for games on Wednesday and Thursday. ... The Cubs did not allow a run in the first inning for the ninth straight game. Until the All-Star break, they had given up 80 runs in the opening inning through 88 games.