Nolan Arenado hit the decisive two-run single in the eighth inning as the St. Louis Cardinals rallied past the visiting Chicago Cubs 5-4 Saturday night to complete a doubleheader sweep.
The Cardinals won the first game 11-3 behind a nine-run first inning.
Masyn Winn and Willson Contreras hit home runs in the second game for the Cardinals, who moved within 3 1/2 games of the National League Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers.
Cardinals starting pitcher Kyle Gibson allowed four runs on 10 hits in four innings. He struck out three and walked two.
Relievers John King, Andrew Kittredge, JoJo Romero and Ryan Helsley combined to blank the Cubs for five innings. Romero (4-1) picked up the victory and Helsley converted his 32nd save.
Home plate umpire David Arrieta ejected Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol in the sixth inning for protesting ball-and-strike calls.
Cubs starting pitcher Javier Assad allowed three runs on seven hits in 2 1/3 innings. Porter Hodge (0-1), the fourth Chicago reliever, took the loss.
The Cardinals took a 2-0 first inning lead, but Chicago’s defense prevented a bigger inning.
After homers by Winn and Contreras, Paul Goldschmidt hit a single and went to third on Brendan Donovan’s double. But third baseman Miles Mastrobuoni threw out Goldschmidt trying to score on Arenado’s grounder.
The Cubs countered by scoring four runs with two outs in the second inning. After Miguel Amaya hit a two-run homer, Pete Crow-Armstrong hit a ground-rule double and scored on Nico Hoerner’s single. Singles by Michael Busch and Seiya Suzuki pushed Chicago’s lead to 4-2.
St. Louis got one run back in the bottom of the inning, but they lost another runner at the plate. Matt Carpenter hit a single and moved up on Nolan Gorman’s walk, but Suzuki threw Carpenter out trying to score on Winn’s single into right field.
The runners advanced on the throw home, and Alec Burleson’s sacrifice fly cut Chicago’s lead to 4-3.
The Cardinals rallied in the eighth inning to move up 5-4. Contreras drew a leadoff walk, Goldschmidt hit a ground-rule double and, after Donovan struck out, Arenado hit the winning single up the middle.