Cubs take series from Cards with 7-1 win

ST. LOUIS - There was no lamenting the might-have-beens Sunday at Busch Stadium after the Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-1 on a hot and steamy afternoon.

Sure, the Cubs probably should have swept this series, but they let a ninth-inning lead slip away Saturday.

That seemed like ancient history to manager Lou Piniella and his crew a day later, as they relished taking two of three from the Cards and increasing their first-place lead to 3 games.

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"It's going to happen," Piniella said with a chuckle, recalling how upset he was after Saturday's game. "They happen a few times a year. The problem is, you don't like them when they happen. But you've got to accept it, and to the credit of this team, we came back today and played aggressive, played a real good ballgame.

"We got some timely hitting and some really good pitching, and we bounced back. Now we can enjoy our day off tomorrow a little more."

The Cubs pounded out 16 hits against former teammate Todd Wellemeyer and the St. Louis bullpen. The man setting the tone on the mound for the Cubs was lefty Sean Marshall, who earned his first victory of the season after pitching well in several roles, both with the Cubs and at Class AAA Iowa.

"I felt good," Marshall said. "I made some pitches when I needed to and got out of a couple jams there with some good pitches, and that's how it turned out.

"Anything I can do to help the team win and keep us in first place, that's what makes me happy. If they need me to do anything else ... I wish I could get a couple pinch-hits or a couple hits when I'm pitching."

Piniella was more effusive in his praise.

"In fact, over the two years he's been here, that's as good as I've seen him throw the ball," the manager said. "He did really well."

The Cubs took it a step at a time against Wellemeyer, putting across single runs in the second and third. In the fifth, Reed Johnson and Ryan Theriot opened with singles. Derrek Lee hit a high drive to deep left-center. Theriot had to hold up, thinking left fielder Joe Mather might catch the ball. But Mather couldn't make the play, and Lee had to settle for a 380-foot single that loaded the bases.

Aramis Ramirez hit a sacrifice fly before Matt Murton grounded into an inning-ending double play. Marshall gave up a solo homer to Ryan Ludwick in the sixth, but that was it. The Cubs added on against the Cardinals' bullpen.

Since beginning a long and tough stretch of games June 2 in San Diego, the Cubs have increased their lead by 1 game in the standings, going 17-15.

"Really, I don't think we had much of a choice," said Theriot, who's batting .313 with a .390 on-base percentage. "We just had to go at it full blast. It was tough.

"Obviously, you'd rather be at home. I felt we played good baseball. Obviously, we would have liked to have played better. But hopefully it'll be a little bit easier next month. We'll have some more games at home. But you look at September, and we're on the road again.

"I thought we did a good job this last stretch."

Cubs 7, Cardinals 1

At the plate: The Cubs outhit the Cardinals 16-7. Geovany Soto his his 15th homer of the season. Derrek Lee and Ryan Theriot each went 3-for-5. Aramis Ramirez was 2-for-3 with 3 RBI.

On the mound: Sean Marshall earned his first victory of the season against 2 losses. He went 6 innings, giving up 6 hits and 1 run. It was his second quality start of the season. Neal Cotts, Carlos Marmol and Bob Howry finished.