Flaherty’s gem leads Cardinals past Cubs

wireready_08-02-2019-09-08-03_07595_cardinals1

ST. LOUIS (AP) – Jack Flaherty struck out nine in seven strong innings and Matt
Wieters hit a three-run homer as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Chicago Cubs
8-0 Thursday in a matchup of NL Central leaders.

The Cardinals won two games in the three-game set and claimed first in the
division, a game ahead of Chicago. The Cubs have lost four of six overall and 11
of their last 16 on the road.

Flaherty (5-6) allowed just one hit and walked two in recording his first win
since May 14, a span of 79 days and 12 starts. The right-hander held the Cubs
without a hit until newcomer Nicholas Castellanos singled to right with two out
in the sixth. Flaherty retired 13 straight batters from the first to fifth
innings.

Wieters capped off a four-run, sixth-inning outburst with a three-run homer off
Derek Holland to give the Cardinals a 6-0 lead.

Jose Martinez, Kolten Wong and Yairo Muniz had RBI singles for the Cardinals,
who are coming off a 16-9 record in July.

Jon Lester (9-7) gave up five earned runs on nine hits over five-plus innings.
He struck out six and did not walk a batter.

Wong and Paul DeJong had three hits apiece.

The home team has won 11 of 12 games between the teams this season.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: OF Marcell Ozuna, playing at Triple-A Memphis this week, is likely
to join the Cardinals in Oakland on Saturday. He has been out with two broken
fingers, suffered in late June. C Yadi Molina, out since July 11 with a right
thumb strain, will begin a rehab stint in Memphis on Friday. He is still at
least a week away from joining the Cardinals, according to manager Mike Shildt.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: Dakota Hudson (10-5, 3.88 ERA) squares off Saturday against
Oakland’s Mike Fiers (9-3, 3.54 ERA) in the first of a two-game set in Oakland
following a rare Friday night off. Hudson allowed three home runs in his last
outing, a 6-2 loss to Houston on Sunday.

WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI