Cardinals fall 13 to 5 on Sunday, eliminated from Wrigley

After a defeat on Sunday night at Wrigley Field, the Cardinals lost their fourth game in a row, as the Cubs swept three games in the opening game of the team season. The Cubs' 13-5 win extends their winning streak to seven and Chicago now holds a half-lead over St. Louis in the central division of the National League.

The Cardinals and Cubs compared in the hit column with 12 each and Chicago made four mistakes. Nine St. Louis successes were in singles, while the Cubs enjoyed five doubles, one triple and two homers.

Willson Contreras scored a solo goal in the second run, and the Cubs scored two more points in the fifth in a walk against Contreras, Jason Heyward's triple and David Bote's sacrifice flight. The Cardinals reduced the Cubs' lead to 3-2 in the sixth, thanks to a double by Yadier Molina over José Quintana. That was the only noticeable defect for Quintana, but his night was over after the inning. Quintana allowed eight hits; The doubled Molina was the only extra-basic hit.

Chicago eliminated Adam Wainwright from the match in the sixth inning and scored three on the blackboard, highlighted by Anthony Rizzo's double. Wainwright was charged with five points in five innings. John Gant took over from Wainwright and recorded the three withdrawals in the sixth inning before Luke Gregerson made his seventh season debut. Albert Almora greeted Gregerson with a double and scored a goal from Ben Zobrist to allow the Cubs to climb 7-2.

For good measure, the Cubs scored six more points in the eighth inning, finishing with Kris Bryant's grand slam to give Chicago an eleven-point lead. The Cardinals managed to end the game on a positive note (I do not know if that's the best word) with two homers in the ninth of Tyler Chatwood, including a two-point shot by Paul DeJong and a solo shot near Marcell The bat of Ozuna. It was a three-game match for DeJong, who pushed his batting average to .36 with a 3-on-4 night.

The Cubs will open a four-game series with the Marlins at Wrigley on Monday night, while the Cardinals will return to Busch Stadium and begin a series with the Phillies. Miles Mikolas will land at 7:05 pm Central Time in the first of three games.