Kyle Gibson
Staff report
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Nolan Arenado hit a two-run single in the eighth inning, Masyn Winn and Willson Contreras homered and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Chicago Cubs 5-4 on Saturday night to complete a doubleheader sweep.
Greenfield’s Kyle Gibson got the start for the Cardinals, but did not get the decision.
Gibson came into the outing with wins in his last two starts, and also pitched seven shutout innings and gave up only two hits in a recent win against the Cubs.
On Saturday, the Cubs got to Gibson early.
The 36-year old veteran right-hander allowed four runs on 10 hits and threw 98 pitches in four innings.
“I can’t say enough about the bullpen,” Gibson said. “What a great job they did coming in throwing up five zeros, really giving the offense chance after chance. And then Arenado comes up with a big hit. These are the team wins that you look back on in September and October and builds you as a team and gets you to where you want to be.”
St. Louis won the opener 11-3 as Alec Burleson hit a three-run homer to cap a nine-run first inning, and Lance Lynn (5-4) pitched six solid innings.
John King, Andrew Kittredge and JoJo Romero (4-1) combined to pitch four scoreless innings of relief in the second game before Ryan Helsley pitched a scoreless ninth for his major league-leading 32nd save in 34 chances.
“We did a nice job against Gibson putting lots of traffic on,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “I think the fourth inning would be the inning you look back and say we left at least a run out there.”
The Cubs had the bases loaded with one out in the third inning, but Christopher Morel grounded into a double play to end the inning.
It was Gibson’s final start before the MLB All-Star Break.
During the first half of the season, Gibson is 7-3 with a 4.16 earned run average. In 18 starts, he has pitched 101.2 innings, with 96 strikeouts, 97 hits and 41 walks. Hitters are batting .254 against Gibson. He has a 1.36 WHIP (Walks/Hits to Innings Pitched ratio).
Gibson’s next start has yet to be determined. The Cardinals have not released their post-All-Star game starting pitching rotation.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
