Cardinals 5, Cubs 3: Michael Wacha pitched seven strong innings and also had a two-run single as host St. Louis knocked off Chicago.

Matt Carpenter and Yadier Molina also delivered run-scoring hits for the Cardinals, who defeated the Cubs for the second consecutive day. Starlin Castro went 3-for-4 with a two-run homer for Chicago, which lost for the ninth time in 11 games.

Wacha (3-3) allowed two runs and seven hits and struck out five before exiting. Chicago loaded the bases in the eighth and Trevor Rosenthal stemmed the uprising and recorded the final five outs while posting his 11th save.

Wacha’s two-run single on a full-count pitch from Jason Hammel (4-2) was the key blow of a four-run second inning. Carpenter capped the rally with a double off the right-field fence.

Castro’s homer in the fourth pulled the Cubs within 4-2 before Molina delivered a run-scoring single in the bottom of the sixth. Chicago pushed across an eighth-inning run on Junior Lake’s sacrifice fly but Rosenthal retired Nate Schierholtz on a broken-bat grounder with the bases loaded to end the inning and retired the side in order in the ninth.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Hammel allowed five runs and five hits in 5 1/3 innings. … Molina is 7-for-16 over the last four games. … 1B Anthony Rizzo and 3B Luis Valbuena each had two hits for the Cubs.