CHICAGO _ The Cubs are in first place in the NL Central. The team that started 2-7 has completely flipped the script. Their three-game home sweep of the Cardinals is proof.
The Cubs dominated St. Louis with pitching Friday and clutch hitting Saturday. They won 13-5 on Sunday night thanks to a total team effort, giving them seven straight wins.
Jose Quintana pitched six strong innings, Ben Zobrist made two terrific plays in left, Willson Contreras and Anthony Rizzo drove in two runs apiece and the bullpen was lights out _ again.
The relievers were horrendous early in the season, as you might have read and heard. But since the 2-7 start, they have posted a 2.11 ERA. Brandon Kintzler and Steve Cishek did the job Sunday before Tyler Chatwood gave up three runs on two homers in the ninth.
All eight position players got at least one hit in the romp. And to think, Cardinals right-hander Adam Wainwright entered the night 11-3 at Wrigley Field, including 5-0 with a 1.94 in night games.
Contreras cranked one 419 feet to the opposite field in the second, pointing to something or someone out in left-center as he rounded the bases. Rizzo's two-run double in the sixth gave the Cubs a nice cushion.
The Cubs piled on from there. Kris Bryant thrilled the crowd of 36,499 _ and padded his stats _ with a grand slam in the eighth off right-hander Dominic Leone.
It was the fourth bases-clearing blast of Bryant's career, and it gave him four homers and 19 RBIs on the season. And it will help Bryant sleep after he made two errors at third, one on a throw and another on a mishandled grounder to his left.
