Michael Wacha, St. Louis Cardinals defeat Chicago Cubs in 5-3 win

Michael Wacha helped himself on the mound and the field as the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Chicago Cubs in a 5-3 win on Thursday afternoon.

The Cardinals pitcher pitched seven solid innings on the mound. Despite Wednesday’s game being washed out, Wacha gave the Cardinals a much-needed start after the bullpen was used heavily on Monday and Tuesday. He allowed two runs on seven hits. Both runs allowed came on a home run by shortstop Starlin Castro. Wacha also struck out five batters and lowered his ERA to 2.82 this season.

At the plate, Wacha was just as impressive. He went 1-for-2 with a run and 2 RBIs.

Offensively, the Cardinals scored five runs on six hits. Catcher Yadier Molina was the only cardinals hitter to provide a 2-hit day as he now owns a .315 batting average this season. After going hitless in three consecutive games, Molina has seven hits in his last four games.

After a hot start, first baseman Matt Adams has cooled off. While he is now hitting .299 on the season, the Pennsylvania native is hitting .200 over the last 10 games. The stretch includes two multi-hit games.

While Peter Bourjos did not get a hit today, he did walk and score. In his last ten games, he is hitting .333 since getting a regular opportunity at starting in center field.

The Cardinals did most of their damage in the second inning when they scored four runs. Molina doubled, Allen Craig walked, and Bourjos walked to load the bases with one out. Mark Ellis grounded out to second but drove in Molina. Wacha singled to center to score but Craig and Bourjos. Wacha then scored when Matt Carpenter hit his seventh double of the season.

In the sixth inning, Molina drove in Matt Holliday on a single to left.

Kevin Siegrist started the 8th inning but after a strikeout, he soon lost control of the inning. After allowing a walk and a single, another walk loaded the bases. Trevor Rosenthal came into replace Siegrist, A run would score on a sac fly but the Cardinals were able to get out of the inning without any more damage. In the ninth inning, it was a perfect 1-2-3 and the Cardinals ended the game as a winner.

Wacha moved to 3-3 on the season while Rosenthal earned his 11th save.