Offense powers St. Louis Cardinals 13-2 win over Chicago Cubs

A nine-run eighth inning lifted the St. Louis Cardinals offense as they defeated the Chicago Cubs 13-2 in the second game of a double-header.

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The 13 runs marked the most runs scored in a game this season. The last time the Cardinals scored this much was when they scored 15 runs against the Cincinnati Reds on on August 4, 2013. The nine runs was the most runs scored in an inning since they scored the same amount against the San Francisco Giants on April 7, 2013. The eleven run margin of victory is also the largest this season.

For Marco Gonzales, this was just the fourth start of his Major League career and the first of what will likely be many against the Cubs. With tonight’s win, Gonzales picked up his first Major League win–the first of what should be many wins in his Cardinals career. It was his first Cardinals start since taking the mound against the Miami Marlins on July 6.

The 2013 first round pick has allowed just one run in each of his last two starts. He pitched a career-high six innings and threw five strikeouts.

Pat Neshek, Seth Maness, and Nick Greenwood combined for the final three innings of the game.

Opposing players just never learn. With Yadier Molina returning from the DL on Friday night, it wouldn’t be long before somebody tried to test his arm. Molina caught his 17th victim this season when Arismendy Alcantara attempted to steal a base. Offensively, Molina added three hits for the fourth time this season–including two hits in the eighth inning. It was the third time in Molina’s career that he picked up two hits in the same inning.

With home runs in the fifth and eighth innings, outfielder Matt Holliday now has 19 multi-home run games in his career. It was the first multi-HR game for Holliday during the 2014 season. Holliday knocked in five runs to put him at 74 RBI on the season.

Matt Carpenter scored three times and walked three times. He’s the first Cardinal to do such a feat since Lance Berkman did so during the 2011 campaign.