Lackey strong as Chicago Cubs beat Cards

ST. LOUIS - Jason Heyward wasn't the only player coming back to St. Louis as a former Cardinal.

The Chicago Cubs sent right-handed pitcher John Lackey to the mound Monday night, and it was Lackey who stole the show.

He worked 7 strong innings as the Cubs beat the Cardinals 5-0 before 45,432 at Busch Stadium.

Lackey gave up 4 hits while walking one and striking out 11.

Heyward played last year for the Cardinals, and Lackey pitched part of 2014 and all of 2015 for St. Louis.

The 37-year-old Lackey always seems cool and unaffected emotionally by much of anything.

"We talked about it before the game, the focus he was going to have tonight," said manager Joe Maddon, whose team is 10-3. "You saw it. He was on top of his game right there."

Lackey improved to 3-0 with a 3.66 ERA.

"I've been known to be able to focus a little bit," he said. "I guess I like this sort of situation. It was a little weird, warming up in the other bullpen. I had a great time when I played here. No hard feelings."

The game was a scoreless duel between Lackey and Cardinals pitcher Mike Leake until the top of the sixth, when Dexter Fowler led off with his third home run of the season.

The Cubs added 3 more in the seventh, with 1 coming home on a single by Lackey. They made it 5-0 in the eighth on a double by Ben Zobrist and a single by Kris Bryant.

Heyward went 0-for-4 and was booed each time he came up. He made a pair of nice catches in right field. Lackey, who has pitched for the Boston Red Sox, was not impressed by the booing.

"I've seen 'booed,' " he said. "That ain't 'booed.' That was pretty soft, really."

For his part, Lackey has now beaten every team in the major leagues. He also crossed the 2,500-innings-pitched mark. This was his first career regular-season start against the Cardinals.

Scoring runs somehow:

The Cubs entered Monday second in the National League in runs scored despite their big hitters sporting low batting averages. However, they did rank third in on-base percentage and fifth in home runs.

"That just means we're going to get a lot in return soon," said Joe Maddon. "It's just the ebb and flow of the season. The fact that we've been able to win while they're not at the top of their offensive game also speaks to the whole lineup. Whenever guys are - I don't like to use the word 'slumping' - not hitting like they can,

"I just believe there's a lot coming in a positive direction soon."

Maddon added that although the batting averages aren't high, the at-bats have been good.

Schwarber surgery soon:

Joe Maddon said catcher-outfielder Kyle Schwarber would be having surgery on his left knee "soon." Schwarber is on the disabled list with torn left-knee ligaments. That surgery could happen as early as this week.

Starters going deep:

Cubs starting pitchers have worked at least 6 innings in each of the Cubs' 13 games. No Cubs team's starting pitchers had done that since the 1910 team had its starters go at least 6 in each of the first 14 games.

The effect of that is that Cubs relievers entered Monday with 28 innings pitched, tied with the White Sox for fewest in the major leagues.