ST. LOUIS _ Jake Arrieta threw his first 12 pitches for strikes Sunday and finished by throwing 60 of his 85 pitches.
Kyle Schwarber ripped a line drive in his first at-bat and started a rally in the third with a walk.
But that wasn't enough to shake them out of their struggles.
Arrieta's two blemishes were a pair of two-run home runs allowed to Yadier Molina and Matt Carpenter that increased his home run total to eight _ already half his total from 2016.
"Right now it seems the mistakes I'm making, they're not fouling them off, taking or swinging and missing," Arrieta said after his ERA swelled to 5.44.
"They're making pretty solid contact. I'm going to continue to be aggressive. I'd like to not make any mistakes, but the ones I'm making right now are being taken advantage of."
Arrieta, whose fastball topped out at 93 mph, has allowed two home runs in a game three times, and he has allowed three runs or more in each of his last seven starts.
Schwarber remained optimistic despite an 0-for-3 performance that dropped his batting average to .179.
"I don't think the leadoff spot has really changed what's been going on," said Schwarber, who has a .313 on-base percentage. "I squared some balls and wasn't able to get a hit. It's part of the game. It's baseball. That's why it's a game of failure, and you have to learn from your mistakes and go with the good.
"It's a crazy game. It can put you in a great place. It can put you in a bad place. You just try to stay in the middle."
Manager Joe Maddon reinforced his support of both players, saying he believed this was Arrieta's best performance of the season and that Schwarber was victimized by a shift that took away a hit in the sixth.
