Willson Contreras made his return to Chicago and delivered a tiebreaking double in the sixth inning among his two hits as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Cubs 3-1 on Monday night.
St. Louis has posted back-to-back victories for the first time in nearly a month. Before a Sunday win at Detroit, the Cardinals had lost eight consecutive games. Chicago lost for the eighth time in 11 games.
Greeted with noticeable cheers but several boos, Contreras went 2-for-4 against the Cubs, the team he left to sign a five-year, $87.5 million deal with the rival Cardinals in the offseason. With the game tied 1-1 and two outs in the sixth, Contreras lined a drive off the center field wall against Marcus Stroman (2-3), scoring Lars Nootbaar.
Contreras then played to the Wrigley Field crowd by gesturing with his hands for applause — which resulted in more jeers. He also posted an RBI on an eighth-inning fielder’s choice.
Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas allowed a run on four hits and three walks while striking out seven in 4 1/3 innings. Genesis Cabrera (1-1) threw 1 1/3 shutout innings for the win. Jordan Hicks followed with two hitless innings, and Ryan Helsley recorded the last four outs for his fourth save.
St. Louis won consecutive contests for the first time since April 11-12.
Stroman retired 11 consecutive batters at one point but received little support while yielding two runs, four hits and a walk in six innings. He fanned six.
The Cubs struck out 10 times and stranded nine while falling to 6-12 after starting 11-6.
Contreras opened the second inning with a single, went to third on Brendan Donovan’s hit to right and scored when Dylan Carlson singled to left.
The Cubs tied the game in the fifth on two walks, a groundout and Dansby Swanson’s RBI double down the left field line.
Chicago’s Nico Hoerner left with hamstring tightness while running to third on Swanson’s hit. He was replaced by Nick Madrigal, who was thrown out at the plate by Donovan from left field on Cody Bellinger’s fly ball.
St. Louis third baseman Nolan Arenado, batting just .232 with three homers in 34 games, was scratched from the lineup due to neck stiffness.
–Field Level Media
