CHICAGO _ The Cubs dug themselves an early hole Sunday in their quest to win the National League Central title but rallied for four runs in the third inning and added four more in the fifth as they pulled away for a 10-5 victory over the Cardinals at Wrigley Field.
The Cubs (95-67) will host the Brewers (95-67) at Wrigley at 12:05 p.m. Monday for the division title. The loser will host the NL wild-card game on Tuesday against the winner of the Rockies-Dodgers tiebreaker at Dodger Stadium, with the winner of that game facing the Cubs-Brewers winner in the NL Division Series.
Monday's division tiebreaker will be broadcast on ESPN.
Anthony Rizzo went 4-for-4 and drove in his 100th run during a four-run third.
Willson Contreras hit a two-run home run, his first homer since Aug. 1, to cap a four-run fifth that started with consecutive hits by Javier Baez, Rizzo and Kris Bryant.
The Cubs overcame a 2-0 deficit in the third with two out when Daniel Murphy hit a double and scored on a triple by Ben Zobrist. Cardinals starter Jack Flaherty threw a wild pitch to score Zobrist with the tying run.
After Baez drew a walk, Rizzo ripped a double to right center to score Baez with the go-ahead run. Left-hander Chasen Shreve relieved Flaherty after Bryant was intentionally walked, but Jason Heyward foiled the strategy by hitting a single to score Rizzo to make it 4-2.
That two-out rally alleviated some of the stress after Matt Carpenter tagged Cubs starter Mike Montgomery's first pitch of the game for a double and Paul DeJong followed with an RBI single. With two out, Patrick Wisdom hit a single that rolled under the glove of Heyward in center for an error that enabled Tyler O'Neill to score.
The Cubs wasted a chance to cut the lead in half in the bottom of the first when Baez ran through the stop sign of third base coach Brian Butterfield and was thrown out at home plate while trying to score on a two-out single by Rizzo.
Montgomery was pulled after allowing a double to DeJong with one out in the third. Allen Webster, the second of nine pitchers employed by manager Joe Maddon, replaced Montgomery and struck out O'Neill and induced Harrison Bader to fly to right.
Alec Mills pitched two scoreless innings before allowing a double to Patrick Wisdom and walk to Harrison Bader to start the sixth. Yairo Munoz greeted Carl Edwards Jr. with a two-run single.
The Cubs added two runs in the sixth when reliever Dakota Hudson failed to catch a throw by first baseman Matt Carpenter that allowed Baez to score, and Albert Almora Jr. hit an infield single with the bases loaded.
Baez started the rally by hitting a two-out double to right field, his 40th of the season.
The Cubs won the season series from the Brewers 11-8, but the Brewers cut a five-game deficit on Sept. 3 to catch the Cubs for the division lead on Saturday.
