Kyle Hendricks threw seven shutout innings as the visiting Chicago Cubs defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 5-1 on Friday for their fifth straight victory.

Hendricks (2-7) allowed five hits and one walk while striking out three. He didn't allow a runner to reach second base.

The 11-year veteran improved his career record against the Cardinals to 14-4. Hendricks has thrown 11 1/3 scoreless innings against them this season.

Cubs reliever Luke Little sustained an injury while pitching to the first batter he faced in the eighth inning. Mark Leiter Jr. came on to get the side in order, and after Hunter Bigge had trouble in the ninth, Hector Neris entered and secured his 13th save.

Nico Hoerner and David Bote drove in two runs each for the Cubs, and Miles Mastrobuoni scored twice.

St. Louis starter Sonny Gray (9-6) allowed three runs on nine hits in seven innings as the Cardinals lost their third straight game. He struck out six and walked none.

Chicago played small ball to take a 1-0 lead in the third inning. Mastrobuoni hit a leadoff single, Pete Crow-Armstrong reached on a bunt single, then Miguel Amaya bunted the runners over.

Hoerner hit a run-scoring groundout before Gray retired Michael Busch on a flyout.

The Cubs increased their lead to 2-0 in the fourth inning when Ian Happ hit a one-out double and scored on Dansby Swanson's single.

Amaya and Hoerner hit one-out singles in the fifth inning, but Busch grounded into a double play.

Chicago made it 3-0 in the seventh inning. Mastrobuoni hit a leadoff single, moved to third on Amaya's single and scored on Hoerner's sacrifice fly.

The Cubs pushed their lead to 5-0 in the eighth inning off relievers Chris Roycroft and John King. Christopher Morel and Swanson hit singles with two outs, and Bote hit a two-run double.

The Cardinals finally broke through in the ninth inning against Bigge to snap Chicago's scoreless streak at 32 1/3 innings. Masyn Winn and Willson Contreras walked, then Paul Goldschmidt hit an RBI single.

Neris came on to get a line out for the second out. He then walked Nolan Arenado to load the bases but struck out Lars Nootbaar to end the game.

--Field Level Media