Cubs blank Cardinals in postseason tune-up

Seiya Suzuki homered once again for the Chicago Cubs, who ended the regular season with a 2-0 victory Sunday over the visiting St. Louis Cardinals.

Suzuki deposited a John King curveball over the left field wall to lead off the Cubs' fifth. The right fielder went deep in his fourth straight game, hitting five homers in 15 plate appearances over that span. Prior to the streak, the 31-year-old last hit a homer on Aug. 6 -- a stretch of 44 games and 160 plate appearances without a round-tripper.

Cubs starter Javier Assad (4-1) struck out a season-high six over 5 1/3 innings. He won for the fourth time in his last five appearances by holding St. Louis (78-84) to three hits and a walk.

Jordan Wicks pitched the final three innings. He struck out four and allowed three hits for his first career save.

Moises Ballesteros added an RBI single in the seventh to secure the three-game sweep for the Cubs (92-70).

Kyle Leahy allowed just a single in his first career start with one strikeout over three innings. King (2-1) pitched 1 2/3 innings, allowing the Suzuki solo homer and a single with two strikeouts.

Michael Soroka, whom the Cubs acquired at the trade deadline from the Washington Nationals, pitched in relief for the fifth time in two weeks after missing nearly six weeks with a right shoulder strain. He retired both batters he faced.

Each team had six hits. Thomas Saggese went 2-for-4 and Victor Scott II finished 2-for-3 for St. Louis. Jimmy Crooks added a triple.

The Cubs, who open the MLB playoffs Tuesday at home against the San Diego Padres in a best-of-three National League wild-card series, used Game 162 as a tune-up.

Ian Happ left the game in the top of the fifth and Dansby Swanson departed a half-inning later when Justin Turner pinch-hit for the shortstop. Michael Busch came out in the seventh.

Chicago is in the postseason for the first time in a 162-game season since the Cubs lost the NL wild-card game in 2018. Their 92 wins are the team's most since winning 95 seven years ago.

The Cardinals dropped their final four games to cap just their third losing season since 2007.

--Field Level Media