CHICAGO (AP) – Kyle Gibson pitched two-hit ball over seven innings, Pedro Pagés broke a scoreless tie when he led off the eighth with his first career homer and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Chicago Cubs 3-0 on Friday.
Pagés, who had just three hits in 28 major league at-bats, gave the Cardinals the lead with a drive to the left-field basket against reliever Hayden Wesneski (2-4). The 25-year-old Venezuelan pointed toward the sky crossing home plate.
Michael Busch singled leading off the bottom half against Ryan Fernandez. Pinch runner Pete Crow-Armstrong stole second and went to third on a ground out but he was thrown out at home by second baseman Nolan Gorman trying to score on Miguel Amaya’s one-out ground ball. JoJo Romero retired pinch hitter Patrick Wisdom on a fly to the left-field corner that Brendan Donovan caught just in front of the ivy.
The Cardinals scored two more runs in the ninth. Iván Herrera blooped an RBI double off a lunging second baseman Nico Hoerner’s glove and Dylan Carlson drove him in with a single.
Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley retired the first two batters in the ninth before walking Seiya Suzuki and Ian Happ. He then struck out Hoerner for his major league-leading 23rd save in 24 chances.
Gibson (5-2) made it look easy, striking out six and walking one.
The Cubs lost for the 15th time in 21 games.
Starter Jordan Wicks exited in the second inning because of discomfort in his right oblique. The left-hander walked off the field accompanied by a trainer after giving up a two-out single to Carlson. Kyle Hendricks came in and retired Brendan Donovan on a grounder to second.
Wicks gave up two hits and struck out two in his first start and second appearance since returning from a strained left forearm. He was sidelined for six weeks.
Hendricks pitched two-hit ball over 4 1/3 scoreless innings.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Cubs: RHP Ben Brown has a stress reaction in his neck, and the Cubs are still trying to figure out how much time he will miss. “It’s a unique injury, a little bit of a rare injury for a pitcher,” manager Craig Counsell said. “We’re just trying to just get some more opinions and figure out exactly kind of what’s next for him.” The Cubs placed Brown on the 15-day injured list on Tuesday.
UP NEXT
LHP Shota Imanaga (6-1, 1.96 ERA) looks to win his second straight start for the Cubs, while RHP Andre Pallante (2-2, 4.88) gets the ball for the Cardinals. Imanaga pitched into the seventh against Cincinnati on Sunday. Pallante beat Colorado, tossing three-hit ball over five innings in his second scoreless start this season.
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