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Late burst gets Cards past Cubs

Jul 27, 2014 - 2:40 AM Chicago, IL (SportsNetwork.com) - Matt Adams finished with a pair of hits and drove in four runs, leading St. Louis to a 6-3 decision over Chicago in the second edition of a three-game series.

New acquisition A.J. Pierzynski collected three hits and knocked in a run for the Cardinals, who rebounded from a one-run loss in Friday's opener and snapped a four-game losing streak.

"I definitely wanted to play this year because I didn't want to end with a bad taste in my mouth after Boston," Pierzynski said. "I wanted to find a place to play. I didn't want to end the season, I didn't want to end anything like that."

Matt Carpenter added an RBI and scored twice, while Randy Choate (2-2) recorded the final out in the sixth to snag the win. Shelby Miller lasted 5 2/3 innings and yielded two runs on three hits while fanning three.

Nate Schierholtz and Ryan Sweeney hit solo homers for the Cubs, who have dropped eight of their last 10. Emilio Bonifacio contributed three hits and scored once in the setback.

James Russell (0-2) was charged with four runs on two hits while retiring two batters in defeat. Jake Arrieta gave up two runs on five hits with six strikeouts over the first six frames.

"He did all that with not his best stuff, but he was still pretty effective," Cubs manager Rick Renteria noted of Arrieta. "That performance was probably indicative of how much he's grown."

The visitors forged ahead to stay with a seventh-inning burst.

Russel allowed a leadoff hit from Jon Jay, who was sacrificed to second by Mark Ellis before stealing third -- a call upheld by review although it appeared his foot came off the bag and Cubs third baseman Luis Valbuena applied the tag -- and coming in on Carpenter's fielder's choice grounder. Carpenter moved up on a wild pitch after Kolten Wong fanned, then Matt Holliday walked and Adams' triple to center scored both for a 5-2 contest.

Brian Schlitter relieved Russell, but walked Jhonny Peralta and gave up an RBI single to Pierzynski before retiring Oscar Taveras on a fly to center.

Sweeney took Pat Neshek deep to begin the home eighth, but he maintained the three-run edge through his inning of work. Trevor Rosenthal gave up a single and double in the ninth, but fanned Welington Castillo with a runner on second to end the contest.

Adams' one-out, two-run double in the first put the Cardinals on the board. Carpenter walked and Wong was aboard with a single before scoring.

"He certainly was our guy today," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said of Adams.

Bonifacio reached on a leadoff bunt single in the fourth, stole second, moved to third on a groundout and scored on Anthony Rizzo's grounder to short.

A one-out solo homer to right by Schierholtz in the sixth evened the score.

Game Notes

The last Cardinals catcher to record three hits in his team debut was Tony Cruz in 2011 ... Prior to the contest, the Cubs recalled pitcher Blake Parker from Triple-A Iowa and optioned pitcher Neil Ramirez to Iowa ... The St. Louis Cardinals signed Pierzynski and DFA'd catcher George Kottaras to clear a spot on the active roster ... Sweeney's homer was the first allowed by Neshek in his last 40 innings ... Former Cubs starter and 1984 NL Cy Young award winner Rick Sutcliffe led the seventh-inning stretch festivities ... Russell's outing was his worst since giving up six earned runs, against the Cardinals, on July 21, 2012.