Cubs belt 6 HRs, earn split with rival Cardinals

Pete Crow-Armstrong and Christopher Morel each hit two homers to power the visiting Chicago Cubs past the St. Louis Cardinals 8-3 on Sunday afternoon.

Tomas Nido and Ian Happ also homered for the Cubs, who earned a split in the four-game series. They have won six of their last eight games going into the All-Star break and eight of their last 11.

Cubs starter Jameson Taillon (7-4) allowed three runs on seven hits in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out three and walked none.

Relievers Drew Smyly (1 1/3 innings), Jorge Lopez (two innings) held the Cardinals scoreless the rest of the way.

Pedro Pages hit a two-run double for the Cardinals and Alec Burleson hit a solo homer.

Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas (7-8) allowed six runs on eight hits in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out two.

The Cardinals, who have lost four of their last six games, took a 2-0 lead in the second. Brendan Donovan and Nolan Arenado hit singles, then Pages lined a two-out, two-run single off the left field wall.

Chicago tied the game 2-2 in the third. Armstrong, hitting ninth, blasted just his second homer of the season to make it 2-1.

Nico Hoerner hit a double and Seiya Suzuki pushed a two-out RBI single into right field.

Donovan hit a leadoff single and stole second base in the fourth. But shortstop Dansby Swanson made a diving catch to rob Arenado of a single and derail a potential rally.

The Cubs moved ahead 4-2 in the fifth on solo homers by Nido and Armstrong. They pushed their lead to 6-2 in the sixth with a leadoff single by Suzuki and Morel's two-run blast with one out.

Burleson's leadoff homer in St. Louis' half of the sixth cut Chicago's lead to 6-3.

Happ and Morel hit back-to-back homers off Andrew Kittredge in the eighth to increase Chicago's lead to 8-3.

--Field Level Media