Tyler Chatwood pitched into the sixth inning and made a key defensive play in his first win in two months, helping the Chicago Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-2 on Saturday in the opener of a day-night doubleheader.
Chatwood (4-5) issued six walks and hit a batter, continuing a season-long problem with control issues. But the right-hander allowed just one hit in 5 1/3 innings — Matt Carpenter's fourth homer in the last two days.
Ben Zobrist went 4 for 4 and scored twice as NL Central-leading Chicago bounced back nicely from an 18-5 loss to St. Louis on Friday. Javier Baez had three hits and two RBIs, and Tommy La Stella also drove in two runs in the makeup of an April 16 rainout.
The Cardinals pulled within one on Yadier Molina's sacrifice fly in the seventh, but the Cubs responded with four runs in the bottom half. Baez drove in Jason Heyward with a bloop double, Victor Caratini had a sacrifice fly and La Stella capped the scoring with a two-out, two-run single.
Carpenter's one-out drive in the third landed in the basket in right field, tying it at 1 with his 24th of the season and extending his homer streak to five straight games. He went 5 for 5 with three homers, two doubles and seven RBIs while playing just six innings in Friday's runaway win.
On a blustery day at Wrigley Field, Carpenter also flied out to the warning track in center with two runners on in the seventh.
Chatwood appeared to be in trouble when the Cardinals loaded the bases in the fifth on two walks and a hit batter, leading to a mound visit from pitching coach Jim Hickey and his whole infield. But Chatwood then fielded Paul DeJong's comebacker and started a 1-2-3 double play, ending the inning.
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A fired-up Chatwood yelled as he came off the mound after the play and gave catcher Caratini a high-five.
The Cubs then grabbed the lead with three straight singles in the bottom half. Baez chased Luke Weaver (5-9) with his liner into right field, and Kyle Schwarber made it a 3-1 with a sacrifice fly off Mike Mayers.
Weaver allowed seven hits and walked five in his team-high 20th start of the season. He was recalled from the minors to serve as the 26th man for the doubleheader.
Chatwood had just two strikeouts in his first win since May 11 against the White Sox. He was 0-2 with a 6.41 ERA in his previous 10 starts.
