Silver streak
Goldschmidt homers to hit in 25th straight game as Cards beat Cubs
CHICAGO — Paul Goldschmidt came in on a tear, then helped set the Cardinals on course toward a lopsided victory. He had plenty of help, too.
Goldschmidt homered to extend his hitting streak to 25 games, Corey Dickerson went deep twice and the St. Louis Cardinals routed the Cubs 14-5 on Friday.
Nolan Gorman and Lars Nootbaar also connected as the Cardinals rolled to their fourth win in five games.
Goldschmidt hit a threerun drive in the third for his 12th home run. The six-time
All-Star closed in on his career-high 26-game hitting streak with Arizona in 2013 and extended a personal best by reaching base in his 39th consecutive game.
Goldschmidt has 10 homers and 36 RBIs in his last 22 games, a stretch that began May 11,. He has a National League-leading .349 average and 47 RBIs, tied for the NL lead with the Mets’ Pete Alonso.
“It’s fun because of the way he prepares,” manager Oliver Marmol said. “You get rewarded when you’re preparing the way he is — everything that goes into the video work and just his cage routine and just keeping his body fresh.”
Dickerson, batting .183 coming in, sparked a fiverun fourth against Marcus Stroman (2-5) when he lined a tiebreaking solo shot to right for his first homer. He combined with Nootbaar for back-to-back solo homers in the against Frank Schwindel, who took the mound in the ninth after starting as the designated hitter.
Gorman launched a long three-run drive in the fourth to make it 9-4. Called up from Triple-A Memphis on May 20, he has three homers and a .361 average through his first 11 major league games.
Tommy Edman singled three times and scored three runs. Harrison Bader and Nolan Arenado each had two hits. Bader — celebrating his 28th birthday — also scored twice.
Miles Mikolas (4-3) allowed four runs and eight hits in five innings. Zack Thompson held the Cubs to one run and three hits the rest of the way, and picked up the save in his major league debut.
The 24-year-old left-hander grew up in Selma.