Jason Heyward Gets Chilly Reception As Cubs Beat Cardinals, 5-0

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- John Lackey struck out 11 in seven innings of four-hit ball against his former team and had an RBI single, leading the Chicago Cubs over the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-0, on Monday night.

Jason Heyward, playing at Busch Stadium for the first time since leaving to sign with Chicago, was 0-for-4 at the plate, made two nice catches in right field and was booed throughout.

Dexter Fowler homered for the second time in three days for the Cubs, a major league-best 10-3 and off to their best start since 1970. Chicago has won 15 of its last 16 regular-season road games, going 6-1 this year.

Fowler homered in the sixth, and shortstop Aledmys Diaz misplayed a potential double-grounder in the Cubs' three-run seventh, throwing the ball wildly for an error as a run scored. Addison Russell had a sacrifice fly and Lackey, who entered with a .111 career batting average, singled for a 4-0 lead and his seventh RBI in 129 career at-bats.

Mike Leake (0-2) allowed four runs -- three earned -- and six hits in seven innings in his St. Louis debut. At the plate, he botched a squeeze bunt in the fifth, although Kolten Wong scrambled back to third safely to Lackey's ire.

Lackey (3-0) struck out cleanup hitter Brandon Moss three times, and fanned leadoff man Matt Carpenter and No. 5 hitter Stephen Piscotty twice each. The 11 strikeouts, one shy of his career high, was his 20th double-digit strikeout game.

Lackey was 13-10 with a career-best 2.77 ERA with St. Louis last year, taking over as ace after Adam Wainwright tore his left Achilles tendon in April.

UP NEXT

Jason Hammel (1-0, 0.75) has allowed one run in 12 innings with nine strikeouts. He's 2-3 with a 5.97 ERA in seven career starts against St. Louis. Jaime Garcia (1-0, 2.40) threw a one-hitter with 13 strikeouts his last time out against Milwaukee.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Cardinals: SS Ruben Tejada was activated from the 15-day DL from a strained left quadriceps but did not start.

ROTATIONAL PULL

Cubs starters have worked at least six innings in every game. The 13-game streak to start the year is the most in the majors since 1988 when the Astros had a 22-game streak and the Indians' 17 according to STATS.

NUMBERS GAME

Heyward is 1 for 18 against Leake with one RBI although he lined out sharply twice. Moss entered 4 for 8 with two RBIs against Lackey.

(© 2016 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.)

Read more
f

We and our partners use cookies to understand how you use our site, improve your experience and serve you personalized content and advertising. Read about how we use cookies in our cookie policy and how you can control them by clicking Manage Settings. By continuing to use this site, you accept these cookies.