Chicago streaks out of break
CHICAGO — The All-Star break is over. It’s right about now when the Chicago Cubs usually take off.
Jason Heyward had three hits and two RBIs, Ian Happ belted a two-run homer and the Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals 9-6 on Thursday night for their fourth consecutive victory.
Chicago and St. Louis returned a day earlier than the rest of the majors, but it sure looked like business as usual for the NL Central leaders. The Cubs improved to 150-73 after the All-Star break since 2015, baseball’s best such record over that stretch.
“I just feel like the biggest thing for us is a positive mindset throughout,” Heyward said. “Not getting too high, not getting too low.”
Anthony Rizzo added two doubles from the leadoff spot as Chicago moved a seasonhigh 18 games over .500. Victor Caratini had three hits and scored three times in the opener of a five-game series, and Ben Zobrist delivered a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the Cubs’ five-run fifth inning.
“Just really good at-bats,” manager Joe Maddon said.
With the abbreviated break, Maddon held All-Stars Willson Contreras and Javier Baez out of the starting lineup. Caratini and Zobrist picked up the slack quite nicely as Chicago increased its NL Central advantage to a season-high three games over idle Milwaukee.
Yadier Molina matched a career high with four hits for St. Louis, but interim manager Mike Shildt was handed his first loss in his second game in charge after Mike Matheny was fired Saturday night. Tommy Pham and Matt Carpenter each hit a solo homer.