JJ Wetherholt hit a home run and reached base four times as the visiting St. Louis Cardinals beat the Chicago Cubs 3-0 on Saturday.
The rookie homered in the first, walked in the third, doubled in the fifth and singled in the seventh as the Cardinals picked up their fifth win in six games. St. Louis goes for the sweep Sunday.
Cardinals starter Kyle Leahy (7-4) gave up three hits in five shutout innings. The right-hander walked two and struck out six in 77 pitches.
Riley O’Brien picked up his 22nd save with a scoreless ninth.
Cubs starter Shota Imanaga (5-7) gave up four hits and two runs in four 2/3 innings. The southpaw walked three and had eight strikeouts over 86 pitches.
The game was delayed an hour at the start because of rain. In the fifth inning, fog rolled into Wrigley Field and by the sixth inning players were complaining they could not see the ball.
The game was delayed 15 minutes while the fog lifted.
Wetherholt wasted little time putting the Cardinals out in front as he drove the first pitch of the game over the left-field fence.
St. Louis scored again in the third when Nathan Church and Wetherholt walked to lead off the inning. Ivan Herrera gave the Cardinals a two-run lead by singling in Church.
The Cubs had chances to score in the third and fifth innings, but struggling Alex Bregman failed to deliver in both innings.
Michael Conforto singled to lead off the third and went to second when Pete Crow-Armstrong walked with two outs. Bregman, however, grounded into a fielder’s choice at third to end the threat.
Conforto also led off the fifth with a single and went to second when Crow-Armstrong was hit by a pitch with two outs. Bregman popped out to first base to keep the Cubs scoreless.
The Cubs were 0-for-15 with men on base. After scoring 35 runs in a three-game sweep of the Padres, the Cubs have scored just once in two games against St. Louis.
The Cardinals added an insurance run in the eighth when Jordan Walker led off with a double and Alec Burleson singled him in.
–Field Level Media
