Rain only delays Cardinals’ win over Cubs

Matt Wieters hit a tiebreaking double in the sixth inning, and the St. Louis Cardinals held on for a 7-4 win over the visiting Chicago Cubs on Saturday night. Dexter Fowler and Kolten Wong also drove in one run apiece during the go-ahead sixth, which followed a lengthy rain delay of 3 hours and 37 minutes. The teams resumed play on a soggy field with a smattering of fans remaining for the finish.

Paul Goldschmidt, Harrison Bader and Fowler homered for St. Louis. Marcell Ozuna went 3-for-4 with an RBI. Anthony Rizzo and Jason Heyward each hit solo homers to lead the Cubs at the plate. Chicago has lost two in a row, five of six and seven of nine.

Cardinals right-hander John Gant (4-0) earned the victory with one scoreless inning of relief. He walked one and fanned two. Cubs right-hander Tyler Chatwood (3-1) took the loss after giving up three runs on five hits in two innings of relief.

The rain delay prevented neither team's starter from making a long appearance. Cardinals right-hander Jack Flaherty allowed two runs on four hits in five innings, while Cubs left-hander Jose Quintana gave up two runs on four hits in four innings. The score was tied at 2 when the Cardinals put together a three-run inning shortly after the delay. Wieters put St. Louis on top with a double that hopped off the wall in deep centre field and scored Ozuna from first. Fowler hit a run-scoring single to right to drive in Wieters, and Wong doubled to left to bring in Fowler.

The Cubs closed the gap to 5-4 in the seventh. David Bote ripped an RBI double and Kris Bryant added an RBI groundout before Cardinals left-hander Andrew Miller struck out Rizzo to end the threat with runners on first and third. Fowler and Bader hit back-to-back homers in the eighth to give St. Louis breathing room.

Rizzo hit a solo shot in the top of the first before Goldschmidt did the same in the bottom of the first. Chicago pulled ahead 2-1 when Heyward led off the second with a solo blast.

An RBI single by Ozuna evened the score at 2 in the third. Cubs infielder Javier Baez took himself out of the lineup before the game because of a nagging heel injury.

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