Chicago Cubs

7th Straight Win Propels Cubs to Sweep of Cardinals, 1st Place in Division

The Cubs have now won seven straight games after their victory over the Cardinals

A month ago, the Chicago Cubs were scuffling through a horrendous start to the season, but after a blowout win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday, they are now sitting in first place in the National League Central.

The victory, keyed by a home run from Willson Contreras and big evenings from Anthony Rizzo and David Bote, completed a three-game sweep over the hated Cardinals and propelled the Cubs back to the top of the heap in the Central.

Bote, Contreras, and Rizzo all had two RBI apiece, and José Quintana did his part on the mound, giving up two earned runs on eight hits in six innings of work as the Cubs won their seventh straight game.

Despite making two errors in the field, Kris Bryant likely won't complain after the game, as he cracked an eighth-inning grand slam to push the Cubs even further ahead in the blowout victory. 

Yadier Molina drove in a pair of runs, and Paul DeJong and Marcell Ozuna both hit home runs in the ninth inning, but it wasn't enough as the Cardinals fell. 

Adam Wainwright was strong for the Cardinals in the early part of the game, surrendering just a solo home run to Contreras through the first four innings. As the fifth opened however the Cubs extended their lead, with Jason Heyward socking an RBI triple to center field and Bote hitting a sacrifice fly to drive him in and extend the Chicago advantage to 3-0.

After Molina made it a one-run game with a two-RBI double in the sixth, the Cubs bounced right back. Rizzo clobbered a double to right-center field, scoring Kris Bryant and Ben Zobrist, and even after Rizzo was thrown out on the basepaths, the Cubs still managed to add another insurance run, as Contreras drove in Javier Báez with a single to make it a 6-2 game.

Zobrist had an RBI single in the seventh, and Bote and Albert Almora Jr. each collected RBI doubles in the eighth as the Cubs poured it on against the St. Louis bullpen.

After the three-game sweep, the Cubs will welcome the Miami Marlins to Wrigley Field for a four-game set beginning on Monday, and the Cardinals will head home to take on the Washington Nationals at Busch Stadium beginning on Monday.

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