CHICAGO (AP) Jose Quintana pitched seven effective innings, keeping Matt Carpenter in the ballpark and helping the Chicago Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-2 on Sunday.
Quintana (9-6) allowed two runs and six hits, struck out six and walked four in his first start since July 10. The left-hander also matched his career high with 121 pitches after he got an extended break to work with pitching coach Jim Hickey on his changeup and get over some shoulder fatigue.
Kyle Schwarber hit a tiebreaking solo homer off Mike Mayers (2-1) with two out in the sixth inning, and the Cubs broke it open with three runs in the eighth. The NL Central leaders took three of five from the Cardinals in their first series after the All-Star break and moved 3 1/2 games ahead of second-place Milwaukee.
Carpenter’s homer streak ended at six games, a single-season record for St. Louis. The infielder went deep six times in the first four games of the series, including three homers in Friday’s 18-5 victory.
Carpenter ended his streak of 12 consecutive hits for extra bases when he led off the game with a bunt single. Third baseman Kris Bryant joined the Cubs’ outfielders during Carpenter’s at-bat, and Carpenter responded with the bunt to the left side.
He advanced on Yadier Molina’s double and scored on Paul DeJong’s sacrifice fly. Carpenter was 1 for 12 against Quintana before the bunt hit.
Quintana intentionally walked Carpenter with runners at second and third in the second inning before striking out Molina looking.
Quintana struck out Carpenter swinging with one on after Yairo Munoz hit an RBI double in the fourth.
The Cubs then pushed across two runs in the bottom half, tying it at 2. Ian Happ smacked an RBI double down the right-field line and Willson Contreras hit a two-out RBI single to left.
Bryant hit an RBI single off Mayers in the seventh, and Contreras, Albert Almora Jr. and Anthony Rizzo each had a run-scoring single in the eighth.
Carpenter popped out with two on in the ninth against Randy Rosario.
Dexter Fowler and Yairo Munoz each had two hits for the Cardinals, who have dropped seven of 11. Miles Mikolas gave up two runs and six hits in five innings.
ON THE MOVE
Cardinals: RHP Luke Weaver, who was the 26th man for Saturday’s doubleheader and started Game 1, returned to the minors. He is expected to return next weekend to make a start.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Cardinals: INF Jedd Gyorko (illness) is feeling much better after sitting out Saturday’s doubleheader, manager Mike Shildt said. Gyorko grounded out as a pinch hitter with two on in the sixth inning and stayed in the game.
UP NEXT
Cardinals: RHP Daniel Poncedeleon will make his major league debut Monday at Cincinnati. He underwent surgery in 2017 to relieve pressure around his brain after he was hit in the head by a line drive while pitching for Triple-A Memphis. “It’s remarkable. Talk about a comeback story,” Shildt said. RHP Luis Castillo (5-8, 5.49 ERA) is set to start for the Reds.
Game time is 6:10 with the pre-game at 5:15 on KTLO-AM.
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