Cardinals aim to keep flexing muscles in clash vs. Cubs

For two nights, the St. Louis Cardinals have beaten the Chicago Cubs at their own power-hitting game.

The Cardinals hit seven homers while defeating the Cubs 8-2 and 8-7 in the first two contests of the four-game series in St. Louis. They have won seven of their past eight games to move within 2 1/2 games of the National League Central-leading Cubs.

St. Louis will look to continue to roll against Chicago on Wednesday night.

"Our guys continue to play every pitch with a ton of heart," Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. "We feel good about our guys taking good at-bats and being able to throw up some runs."

Nolan Gorman (4-for-8, two homers, three RBIs), Lars Nootbaar (2-for-7, two homers, four RBIs), Masyn Winn (2-for-7, double, homer, three runs, four RBIs), and Brendan Donovan (3-for-8, homer, two runs, two RBIs) have led the way in this series.

The Cardinals will start right-hander Erick Fedde (3-6, 3.54 ERA), who is mired in a seven-start winless skid.

Fedde allowed two runs (one earned) in five innings of a no-decision in a 5-4 win against the Chicago White Sox on Thursday.

He is 0-1 with a 6.33 ERA in four career starts against the Cubs.

The Cardinals made roster adjustments Tuesday, designating utility player Jose Barrero for assignment after claiming utility player Garrett Hampson from the Cincinnati Reds. Reliever Roddery Munoz was sent to Triple-A Memphis to create a roster spot for Tuesday's starting pitcher, Michael McGreevy.

The Cubs have lost five of their past six games while allowing 54 runs during that span. They will turn to left-hander Matthew Boyd (6-3, 2.84), who stayed on his rotation schedule despite exiting his previous start with a bruise on his throwing shoulder.

Boyd sustained that injury while fielding a hard smash back to the mound. He allowed two runs on two hits and two walks in five innings in a no-decision against the Seattle Mariners in that 9-4 loss Friday.

He struck out six and departed after making just 76 pitches.

"It just stiffened up pretty quickly, so there was just no way he could go back out there," Cubs manager Craig Counsell said.

Boyd has allowed two runs or fewer in five consecutive appearances since May 28.

In his career, he is 1-1 with 2.12 in three starts against the Cardinals.

The Cubs activated reliever Porter Hodge from the 15-day injured list Tuesday and demoted starting pitcher Ben Brown to Triple-A Iowa. Hodge had been shelved with a left oblique strain and a left hip impingement.

"It's good to have him back," Counsell said of Hodge. "We'll try to get him out there regularly. We know Porter can be an important piece and a big piece. I don't think we're there right now, and I think he needs to pitch a little bit more. But we want to have him active and we want to work to get him to that place."

--Field Level Media