ST. LOUIS _ With 130 games remaining, it might be premature to be making any bold statements, but the St. Louis Cardinals certainly enlisted the Chicago Cubs' attention over the weekend.
Completing a three-game sweep of the Cubs, the Cardinals pulled off an improbable 4-3 win in 14 innings as Dexter Fowler, hitless in five at-bats, blasted a two-strike, two-out, two-run homer to right field.
The homer, off Cubs reliever Luke Farrell, erased a solo home run hit by Javy Baez in the top of the inning off Mike Mayers. The walkoff win was the Cardinals' fifth this season in 12 home wins and second in two days. It took 4 hours, 46 minutes, not counting two rain delays totaling 59 minutes.
Harrison Bader had beaten out an infield single with two outs to set up Fowler, who tormented his former team with a drive just over the wall.
Already this year, the Cardinals have beaten the two-time defending division champion Cubs four times in five meetings. They won just of five of 19 matchups last year.
The bullpens shone after the Cardinals tied the score at 2-2 in the sixth when Cubs right fielder Jason Heyward misplayed Kolten Wong's liner for a run-scoring triple.
For the Cardinals, Luke Gregerson, Tyler Lyons, Jordan Hicks, Greg Holland and Sam Tuivailala all were spotless and Mayers had two scoreless innings as the game went to the 14th.
The Cubs scored an unearned run off Michael Wacha in the first before the first rain delay halted play for half an hour.
Catcher Willson Contreras, hitless in his last 13 at-bats, was moved to the leadoff spot by Cubs manager Joe Maddon. And he immediately got on base, singling to right center. Kyle Schwarber hit a slow tapper toward third, where Jedd Gyorko made a barehand grab and strong throw that pulled first baseman Jose Martinez off the bag. The latter, trying to catch the throw and tag Schwarber, was unable to do either, and Gyorko's throw sailed out of play, placing runners at third and second.
Wacha did well in allowing just one run. He fanned Kris Bryant before Contreras scored on Anthony Rizzo's fly ball to center. That out was something of a welcome sight for Wacha, against whom Rizzo had hit .474 in his career.
Wacha then struck out Addison Russell to end the inning.
Cubs lefthander Jon Lester was 5-1 with a 1.75 earned run average in his last eight starts against the Cardinals and Yadier Molina, the Cardinal who had hurt Lester at .324 for his career, was resting as comfortably as he could at home after delicate surgery for his groin late Saturday night.
After his extended stay before he took the mound, Lester allowed a leadoff single by Bader, replacing injured Tommy Pham (groin). And, after failing to steal second against Lester, who does not hold runners well _ Fowler fouled off two pitches _ Bader made second after a Fowler walk.
The Cardinals did not necessarily need a steal of third at this point, but Bader tried and was out by a lot on catcher Contreras' throw. Fowler didn't try to run against Lester and ultimately was gobbled up on a double-play ball hit by Martinez.
Cardinals second baseman Wong thwarted the Cubs in the second by snaring Baez's smash on the short hop and starting a double play via shortstop Paul DeJong.
Gyorko, one of the few Cardinals in the lineup who had had success against Lester, cracked a 3-2 fastball for his third homer of the season with one out in the second to tie the score at 1-1. It also was Gyorko's third career homer against Lester.
Lester entered further trouble in the inning when he walked DeJong, which is not easy to do, and gave up a single to left by Wong, who had been one for 12 against Lester. But Francisco Pena, replacing Molina, rapped into the Cardinals' second double play in two innings.
Pena made amends, though, by throwing out Schwarber at second to end the third inning after Schwarber tried to advance on a pitch in the dirt.
A second rain delay of 29 minutes came in the Cardinals' third and when play resumed, Lester retired Fowler on a fly to right and fanned Martinez to strand Wacha, who had legged out an infield hit.
Wacha didn't come back quite as sharp as Lester. Bryant rocketed a 433-foot homer to the third deck off a 94 mph fastball to start the Cubs' fourth and restore the one-run lead to the Cubs at 2-1. With two out in the inning, Wacha walked Ian Happ and gave up a single to Baez but retired Heyward on a fly to right.
Gyorko slammed a one-out double to left center in the fourth, making him nine for 22 (.407) in his career against Lester. Right fielder Heyward made a tumbling catch to snatch a hit from DeJong. But Wong, five for 16 against lefthanded pitching this season, singled hard to right. Third-base coach Jose Oquendo waved home Gyorko and then flagged him. Gyorko skidded to a stop and scrambled back to third as Wong alertedly went to second, just beating Contreras' strong throw.
The Cubs went at Wacha after walking Pena intentionally. Wacha worked the count to 3-2 before flying to right.
Chicago center fielder Happ dashed into right center to catch a fifth-inning drive by Fowler, who is one for 29 against lefthanded pitching this season.
Wacha was lifted in the sixth after a one-out double by Russell but slider specialist Gregerson, impressive lately, quickly quelled this threat by fanning Happ and getting Baez on a soft comebacker.
Lester lasted only 5 1/3 innings himself, being yanked after a one-out walk to Gyorko in the Cardinals' sixth. Former Cardinals righthander Steve Cishek fanned DeJong but Wong lined a 3-2 pitch to right where a sliding Heyward lost sight of the ball. It sailed right past him for a triple, Wong's third hit of the game, and tied the score.
It was the Cardinals' first triple of the season after a club-record 31 games at the start of the season without one. They were the last team in the majors to have a three-base hit.
Lyons, who got through the Cubs' seventh without incident, walked Schwarber to open the eighth. This prompted Cardinals manager Mike Matheny to bring in rookie Hicks, who, after a wild pitch, induced three straight groundouts to keep the game at a 2-2 stalemate.
The final out, on Hicks' fifth consecutive pitch of 100 or more mph to Russell, registered at 102.4 mph.
Cubs righthander Carl Edwards Jr., who struck out two men in the seventh, walked two in the eighth. But he was rescued by lefthander Brian Duensing, who got Wong on a fly to right and Pena on a squibber to first.
Holland had a perfect ninth for the Cardinals, but they didn't score off Duensing in the ninth and the Cardinals went to their seventh extra-inning game of the season and second in a row.
The Cardinals had an excellent chance for their fifth walkoff win this season when Martinez drew a walk from Cubs closer Brandon Morrow to start the 10th and Marcell Ozuna slashed a ball off third baseman Bryant's chest for a base hit.
But Gyorko struck out and DeJong grounded into the third double play rapped into by the Cardinals.
