CHICAGO — The Chicago Cubs capitalized on a fielding error with a two-run spurt in the third inning and went on to sweep the St. Louis Cardinals with a 2-0 victory Sunday night at Wrigley Field.
Zach Davies struck out a season-high six batters for his fourth win.
The win extended the Cubs streak to five and kept them tied atop the National League Central with the Milwaukee Brewers, who beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-2 on Sunday. The Cardinals, meanwhile, have lost nine of 10 to drop six games behind.
Eric Sogard led off the third with a sliding double, and Sergio Alcántara moved him over with a groundout to first.
After Davies struck out, Sogard scored when Joc Pederson’s chopper lipped off Cardinals shortstop Paul DeJong’s glove for an error.
Kris Bryant’s line drive to center advanced Pederson to third, and Anthony Rizzo plated him with a lined single to right. It was Rizzo’s 30th RBI of the season.
In the seventh, Jake Marisnick reached on second baseman Matt Carpenter’s flub, but Pederson flied out to center to end the inning.
Davies allowed two hits and two walks in 6⅔ innings. He has yielded two hits or fewer in three of his last four starts and no runs in his last two.
Cardinals counterpart Carlos Martinez also had six strikeouts and allowed four hits in seven innings. Both runs were unearned.
Craig Kimbrel walked one and struck out the side in the ninth to notch his 18th save.
