Chicago, IL – Luis Valbuena and Alfonso Soriano homered as the Chicago Cubs held off the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-4, in the third contest of a four-game series.
Starlin Castro and Dave Sappelt added an RBI apiece for the Cubs, who went 5- for-13 with runners in scoring position.
Chicago starter Matt Garza (6-1) allowed two runs on 10 hits over 6 2/3 innings to pick up his fifth consecutive victory.
"You get caught up in it, but I've been through it so much that I'm just oblivious to it until something happens," Garza said of the trade rumors. "It's stressful, but at the same time, I have a great outlook. I get to pitch every five days. I just keep going and keep looking forward to that next five days."
Jon Jay went 4-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored for the Cardinals, who went 3-for-11 with RISP. Matt Carpenter, Allen Craig and Tony Cruz each knocked in a run.
Lance Lynn (11-4) got the start for St. Louis and gave up six runs -- five earned -- on 10 hits over 4 1/3 innings.
"You go through times in the season where things aren't going your way, and I'm definitely in one of those stints right now," Lynn said.
The Cardinals got on the board in the second. Matt Adams and Jay singled to put men on first and second with two outs. Cruz hit an RBI single to left.
Chicago responded with three runs in the bottom half. Soriano led off with a double to right-center field. Dioner Navarro followed with a single to right and Carlos Beltran's fielding error allowed Soriano to score. Navarro moved to second on a passed ball, advanced to third on Brian Bogusevic's groundout and scored on Sappelt's base hit up the middle. Darwin Barney reached base due to a catcher interference call and Garza's bunt single loaded the bases. Castro's RBI single to right made it 3-1.
After Soriano homered to center in the third, the Cubs tacked on two more runs in the fourth. Barney led off with a single and scored on Valbuena's blast to right.
St. Louis scored one run in each of the final three innings. In the seventh, Carpenter and Daniel Descalso hit consecutive one-out singles. Craig plated Carpenter with a single to left-center field.
The Cardinals loaded the bases in the eighth. James Russell came in from the bullpen and gave up a sacrifice fly to Carpenter. Descalso flied out to end the inning.
Adams and David Freese worked consecutive two-out walks in the ninth. Jay hit an RBI single to right before pinch-hitter Pete Kozma grounded out. Kevin Gregg picked up his 17th save of the season.
Game Notes
Each team had 12 hits ... St. Louis outfielder Matt Holliday missed his second straight game due to tightness in his right hamstring ... The Cubs claimed outfielder Cole Gillespie off waivers from the San Francisco Giants ... Lynn fell to 5-2 lifetime against the Cubs.
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