Yohel Pozo connected on a pinch-hit, three-run homer to lift the visiting St. Louis Cardinals past the Chicago Cubs 8-6 Saturday afternoon.
Nolan Gorman went 2-for-4 with a homer, two runs and two RBIs for the Cardinals, who rallied from a 5-3 deficit to snap their four-game losing streak.
Alec Burleson went 3-for-5 with a homer for St. Louis, and Thomas Saggese went 2-for-4 with two RBIs to snap his 0-for-19 slump.
Michael Busch went 3-for-5 with a homer and two runs scored for the Cubs, whose four-game winning streak ended. Carson Kelly went 2-for-5 with a homer and two runs.
With Jameson Taillon on the injured list, the Cubs deployed a bullpen start. Drew Pomeranz served as the opener and retired just one batter while allowing his first two earned runs of the season.
The Cubs used six relievers from there, with Brad Keller (3-1) suffering the loss.
Cardinals starter Matthew Liberatore allowed two runs on four hits and four walks in five innings. Reliever Steven Matz (5-2) earned the victory and Ryan Helsey earned his 17th save.
St. Louis took a 2-0 first-inning lead on walks to Brendan Donovan and Willson Contreras, Burleson’s single and Saggese’s two-run single.
Chicago cut its deficit to 2-1 in the second inning on Busch’s homer, but Gorman’s fourth-inning homer put the Cardinals up 3-1.
The Cubs cut the lead to 3-2 in the fourth inning. Busch hit a double, Nico Hoerner walked, and the runners advanced on a wild pitch.
Busch was thrown out trying to score on a grounder, but a double steal set up Ian Happ’s RBI groundout.
Chicago rallied for a 4-3 lead in the sixth inning on a double by Kelly, a single by Busch, a wild pitch, Hoerner ‘s RBI single, and another wild pitch by reliever Kyle Leahy.
Kelly’s seventh-inning homer increased Chicago’s lead to 5-3.
The Cardinals moved ahead 8-5 in the eighth inning. Burleson hit a homer, then singles by Saggese, Lars Nootbaar and Gorman tied the game before Pozo hit his homer.
Chicago got a run back in their half of the inning when Kyle Tucker reached on catcher’s interference and scored on a Seiya Suzuki double.
–Field Level Media
