Cardinals 7, Cubs 0: Lance Lynn struck out nine over six innings and Yadier Molina knocked in three runs as host St. Louis clinched its first National League Central title since 2009.
Matt Holliday and David Freese hit solo home runs for the Cardinals (95-65), who remain tied with Atlanta for the best record in the NL. The Braves hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over St. Louis based on winning the season series.
Lynn (15-10) limited the Cubs to four hits - three by Starlin Castro - and did not issue a walk to win his second straight start.
The Cardinals batted around in the first to make quick work of Cubs starter Travis Wood (9-12), who lasted only one inning and was charged with three runs on four hits.
Freese homered in the third and the Cardinals tacked on two in the fourth with only one hit in the inning, taking advantage of a pair of walks and a throwing error by catcher Dioner Navarro. Holliday launched his 250th career home run into the left-field seats in the sixth.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The start time for Saturday's game was moved up from 7:15 p.m. ET to 4:15 p.m. ET because of the threat of inclement weather. … St. Louis OF Jon Jay went 2-for-4 with an RBI to extend his hitting streak to 12 games, matching his career high. … The Cubs have scored three or fewer runs in the last six games Wood has started and eight of the last nine.
Chi. Cubs | St. Louis | |
Travis Wood | Player | Lance Lynn |
Loss | W/L | Win |
1.0 | IP | 6.0 |
1 | Strikeouts | 9 |
4 | Hits | 4 |
27.00 | ERA | 0.00 |
Chi. Cubs | St. Louis | |
Starlin Castro | Player | Matt Holliday |
3 | Hits | 2 |
0 | RBI | 1 |
0 | HR | 1 |
4 | TB | 5 |
.750 | Avg | 1.000 |