Wainwright feels right as Cardinals sweep Cubs

CHICAGO — Tyler O’Neill and Paul DeJong homered, five St. Louis pitchers combined on a three-hitter and the Cardinals beat the Chicago Cubs 5-1 Saturday night to sweep a doubleheader.

In the opener, Adam Wainwright pitched in the seventh and led the Cardinals to a 4-2 win.

St. Louis pulled within 21/2 games of the NL Central-leading Cubs.

Austin Gomber started the second game for the 2Cardinals and struck out five in 2 /3 scoreless innings.

Ryan Helsley (1-0) allowed 1 run on 1 hit in 11/3 innings of relief to get the win.

John Gant got four outs and Andrew Miller got the final three outs.

The Cardinals, batting last in the double-heder after an earlier postponement in St. Louis, jumped on top 3-0 in the second against Colin Rea (1-1). DeJong led off with a home run. Then following a walk, O’Neill hit a two-run home run.

Brad Miller made it 4-0 in the third with an RBI single. Harrison Bader had a sacrifice fly to score O’Neill in the fourth for a 5-0 lead.

Chicago got a run in the fifth on David Bote’s RBI groundout.

Wainwright allowed two runs and struck out six while improving to 4-0 for the first time in his career. The 6-7 right-hander tossed a four-hitter in a 7-2 victory over Cleveland on his 39th birthday in his previous start.

“I don’t feel 39,” he said. “I felt 39 when I was 34 or 35. When I go out on the mound, I feel good and ready to win.”

DeJong drove in two runs for St. Louis. Kolten Wong had two hits and scored twice.

Giovanny Gallegos struck out Anthony Rizzo to finish his third save.