The St. Louis Cardinals got out to a big lead early and then managed to hang on for an 8-7 win over the Chicago Cubs on Sunday.

Albert Pujols greeted Cubs starter Jeff Samardzija with a three-run homer in the first and Matt Pagnozzi added an RBI single to cap off a four-run first inning.

The Cardinals added four more runs in the fifth, getting a two-run double from Pagnozzi to go along with RBI singles from Brendan Ryan and Allen Craig.

Samardzija (2-2) was hammered for eight earned runs over 4 1/3 innings while walking seven Cardinals. Six Chicago relievers held St. Louis scoreless after Samardzija left.

The Cubs finally got on the board with two runs in the bottom of the fifth and then added three in the sixth and two more in the seventh to close the score to 8-7. Blake DeWitt had two hits and scored twice, while Brad Snyder and Kosuke Fukudome had a pair of RBIs for Chicago.

Jake Westbrook (9-11) gave up three runs on five hits over 5 1/3 innings to earn the win, while Ryan Franklin picked up his 26th save of the year.