CHICAGO (AP) — Patrick Wisdom and Yan Gomes homered to lead unbeaten Justin Steele and the Chicago Cubs past the St. Louis Cardinals 10-4 on Wednesday night, snapping a three-game skid.
Steele (6-0) gave up three runs and seven hits in six innings, striking out three and walking three. He joined Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw as the only six-game winners in the National League.
“I felt really good tonight,” said Steele, who had gone 14 consecutive starts without allowing more than two earned runs. “I felt like I had all my pitches working. … It was a fun game.”
Nolan Arenado hit his first triple of the season for St. Louis, which had won three straight after dropping eight in a row.
Jordan Montgomery (2-5) lost for the fifth time in six starts after giving up six runs in five innings. He issued a pair of walks to load the bases in the second but caught Christopher Morel looking at a third strike to escape the jam.
Montgomery’s luck changed an inning later when Wisdom hit his 12th homer, a two-run shot that gave the Cubs the lead for good. Gomes, reinstated from the seven-day concussion injured list earlier in the day, added a two-run drive an inning later that came a few feet short of clearing the left-field bleachers.
“Definitely feels good to be back,” said Gomes, who helped a scuffling Cubs offense rack up 14 hits. “This game is contagious and momentum is a big thing and we hope it goes our way now.”
Dansby Swanson hit a two-run double off Drew VerHagen in Chicago’s three-run sixth to break the game open. Morel finished with a pair of RBI singles and Trey Mancini drew three walks and scored three times.
Arenado knocked in the Cardinals’ first run with his triple in the first and Willson Contreras singled home a run in the third to stake Montgomery to an early 2-0 lead.
“Today the game got away from us on the pitching side but overall, we still feel pretty good about some of the pieces coming together,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “Good series win.”
Across the pond
The season series between the NL Central rivals resumes in late June when they meet for a two-game set in London. The Cardinals will be the home team at London Stadium, which served as the track and field venue for the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Hello again
Contreras welcomed the boos as he went to first base after driving in the Cardinals’ second run. The former Cubs catcher smiled and waved his arms to fans along the right-field line and got an even louder reaction an inning later when he struck out swinging. He finished the night 1 for 4 with two strikeouts.
Trainer’s room
Cubs: C Miguel Amaya was optioned to Triple-A Iowa to open a roster spot for Gomes.
Up next
The Cardinals get an off day before opening a series Friday night in Boston, where RHP Adam Wainwright (0-0, 7.20 ERA) faces LHP James Paxton in his 2023 debut.
The Cubs are also off Thursday. They’ll send LHP Drew Smyly (3-1, 3.05 ERA) to the mound against RHP Sonny Gray (4-0, 1.35) on Friday in Minnesota.
