The St. Louis Cardinals were all over Chicago starter Randy Wells and never looked back, en route to a 7-1 victory Friday afternoon at Wrigley Field.

The Cardinals knocked Wells (3-3) out of the game before he could record a single out. A leadoff single by Felipe Lopez was followed by a Ryan Ludwick double to set the table for the struggling Albert Pujols. Pujols singled to score them both then Matt Holliday singled and Colby Rasmus drove in Pujols to make it 3-0. Yadier Molina’s double scored two more and put the final nail in the coffin for the Cubs’ starter.

Wells finished with a dismal line: six hits and five runs in zero innings pitched, ballooning his ERA from 3.90 to 4.79.

James Russell pitched well in relief for the Cubs, throwing four scoreless innings, but it wasn’t enough as the Cubs couldn’t muster any offense against St. Louis starter Chris Carpenter.

Carpenter broke a string of three straight sub-par outings by holding Chicago to one run on seven hits and one walk in 6 2/3 innings. He struck out five to improve his record to 6-1.

Lopez, Holliday, Ludwick and Rasmus all had two hits apiece, with Ludwick adding a two-run homer in the ninth inning to make it 7-1.

Tyler Colvin had a pinch-hit home run for the Cubs, accounting for the team's only offense.

Carlos Zambrano returned for Chicago after missing Thursday’s game with a stomach ailment. He pitched one inning of scoreless relief.