CHICAGO _ Kris Bryant christened his return Friday by hitting a 448-foot home run in the fourth inning as the Cubs pulled away to an 8-4 win over the Cardinals at Wrigley Field and cut their magic number for clinching the National League Central to two.
The Cubs received eight innings of two-run ball from Kyle Hendricks and added insurance with three runs in the eighth off Jordan Hicks, who walked David Bote with the bases loaded.
Dominic Leone replaced Hicks and surrendered a two-run single to Albert Almora Jr.
The Cubs surged to a 2-0 lead in the first. Anthony Rizzo hit a single to score Daniel Murphy, and a fielding error by second baseman Kolten Wong scored Ben Zobrist with the second run off Adam Wainwright.
The Cubs, however, squandered a chance to add more runs when Wainwright struck out Bryant and Willson Contreras on his signature curve.
A throwing error by Cardinals third baseman Jedd Gyorko set up a run in the seventh, as Murphy followed with a sacrifice fly to score Hendricks.
After being held to three hits through the first five innings, the Cardinals rallied for two runs in the sixth off Hendricks. Bote made a diving stop at third that prevented Paul DeJong from a two-run double, but Marcell Ozuna followed with an RBI single to cut the Cubs' lead in half.
Bryant returned to the Cubs lineup after missing the last two games because of a bruised left wrist suffered when he was hit by a pitch Tuesday.
Rizzo added a sacrifice fly in the fifth. Daniel Murphy had two hits and two runs. Murphy hit a single in the first and a double in the fifth and is 10-for-23 lifetime against Wainwright.
Bote, who hit a two-run triple Thursday night in a 3-0 win over the Pirates, started at third base for the third consecutive game.
Bote committed a throwing error that put the tying run at second with one out in the seventh, but Hendricks struck out pinch-hitter Matt Adams and induced Matt Carpenter to fly to center.
