Baez, Davis power Cubs past Cardinals

Javier Baez hit a go-ahead home run in the eighth inning, and the Chicago Cubs rallied for a 6-5 win over the visiting St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday afternoon. Backup catcher Taylor Davis clubbed a grand slam for his first career home run for Chicago, which won its sixth game in a row. The Cubs will go for the three-game sweep against the Cardinals in the series finale Sunday night.

Matt Carpenter and Michael Wacha drove in two runs apiece to lead the Cardinals at the plate. Cubs reliever Brandon Kintzler (1-0) earned the win with a scoreless inning of relief. He was one of a half-dozen bullpen arms that followed starter Yu Darvish, who gave up five runs in four innings.

Cardinals reliever John Brebbia (1-1) drew the loss after giving up a solo shot to Baez. Starter Michael Wacha recorded a no-decision after giving up five runs (four earned) in five innings. Baez hit a go-ahead homer on a 2-2 pitch in the eighth. He lifted an opposite-field into the right-field bleachers for his team-leading 11th home run of the season and his second in the past three games.

Chicago jumped to a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Leadoff hitter Daniel Descalso ripped a single to centre field, and former Cubs outfielder Dexter Fowler botched the one-hopper for a two-base error. That put Descalso on third base with none out for No. 2 hitter Kris Bryant, who promptly hit an RBI single to centre.

On the first pitch of the next inning, Jose Martinez evened the score at 1. He hammered a 93 mph fastball an estimated 440 feet into the bleachers in the left-centre field for his second homer. The Cardinals seized a 2-1 lead in the second on an RBI double by Carpenter.

In the fourth, St. Louis added three runs to make it 5-1. Wacha stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and one out, and he provided his own run support with a two-run single. Carpenter followed with an RBI single in the next at-bat. The Cubs evened the score at 5 thanks to one swing. With the bases loaded, Davis pulled Wacha's first-pitch fastball deep into the left-field bleachers for his first career home run -- a grand slam.

--Field Level Media