Seiya Suzuki has two hits with an RBI single; Cubs beat Cardinals 8-3

Pete Crow-Armstrong and Christopher Morel each hit two home runs on Sunday afternoon to give the visiting Chicago Cubs an 8-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Tomas Nido and Ian Happ also homered for the Cubs, who earned a split in the four-game series. They have won six of their last eight games before the All-Star break and eight of their last 11.

Chicago starter Jameson Taillon (7-4) allowed three runs on seven hits in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out three and walked none.

Relievers Drew Smyly (1 1/3 innings) and Jorge Lopez (two innings) held the Cardinals to zero runs the rest of the game.

Pedro Pages hit a two-run single and Alec Burleson hit a solo home run for St. Louis.

Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas (7-8) allowed six runs on eight hits in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out two.

St. Louis, which had lost four of its last six games, took a 2-0 lead in the second inning. Brendan Donovan and Nolan Arenado singled, then Pages hit a two-out, two-run single off the left-field wall.

The Cubs tied the score at 2-2 in the third. Crow-Armstrong, batting ninth, hit only his second home run of the season to make it 2-1.

Nico Hoerner doubled and Seiya Suzuki hit an RBI single with two outs to right field.

Donovan hit a leadoff single and stole second in the fourth, but shortstop Dansby Swanson made a diving catch to rob Arenado of a single and disrupt a potential rally.

Chicago took a 4-2 lead in the fifth inning on solo homers by Nido and Crow-Armstrong. The Cubs extended their lead to 6-2 in the sixth inning with a leadoff single by Suzuki and Morel’s two-run blast with one out.

Burleson’s leadoff home run in the Cardinals’ sixth half cut Chicago’s lead to 6-3.

Happ and Morel hit back-to-back home runs off Andrew Kittredge in the eighth inning to give the Cubs an 8-3 lead.