Ryan Dempster’s winless streak is now at 15 starts. But the Chicago Cubs took a step forward with their luckless pitcher.

“It’s alright. Baby steps,” Dempster said after the Cubs sent the St. Louis Cardinals to their fourth straight loss at home with a 6-4 victory on Monday night. “We got a win when I started a game.”

Alfonso Soriano singled in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning and Bryan LaHair had three hits, including a two-run homer — his ninth overall and fourth against the Cardinals — to break a 1-for-14 slump. Chicago’s runs in the eighth and ninth innings came too late for Dempster, whose last victory was Aug. 16 against the Nationals.

Shawn Camp (2-1) allowed one hit in two innings of work and Rafael Dolis worked the ninth for his fourth save in six chances for the Cubs, who won for only the fourth time in their last 13 games in St. Louis despite stranding a season-worst 14 runners.

Jake Westbrook became the latest Cardinals starter who couldn’t pitch deep into the game, allowing four runs on 11 hits in five innings. Of the other four pitchers during this run through the St. Louis rotation, only rookie Lance Lynn lasted six innings.

“I didn’t feel any added pressure, I put that on me every night no matter what the situation is,” Westbrook said. “I just didn’t get the job done.”

The Cardinals got swept by Atlanta over the weekend and hadn’t lost four straight at home since a five-game skid Aug. 14-20, 2010.

“Over the course of the season you’re going to have little ruts where you’re not getting the breaks and when you’re not playing well that compounds the problem,” Lance Berkman said. “This team’s got a lot of character. We knew it wasn’t going to be smooth sailing the whole year.”

Dempster gave up four hits over the first five innings before surrendering four runs on five hits in the sixth that tied it 4-4. Three of Dempster’s first five innings were perfect and he retired 10 of 11 batters from the second to the fifth inning — totaling just 27 pitches.

Soriano’s go-ahead RBI single off Mitchell Boggs (0-1) salvaged the Cubs’ eighth after the Cardinals turned an unusual 3-5-4 double play earlier in the inning. Berkman, the first baseman, fielded Starlin Castro’s popped-up bunt and threw to third to force David DeJesus, then David Freese’s relay to first was there in plenty of time to get Castro.

The Cubs still had Tony Campana on second, and after LaHair was intentionally walked, Soriano’s first hit in 10 career at-bats against Boggs — seven of them strikeouts — gave them the lead.

“It wasn’t a scalded dog, it just got out of the infield,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. “It’s just where we are right now, we’re just going to have to fight.”

Freese’s wild throw to first in a bid for a double play on another bunt allowed an insurance run to score in the ninth against Boggs. The Cardinals committed a season-high three errors, two in the ninth.

Dempster entered with a majors-best 1.02 ERA, the lowest for a Cubs pitcher winless through the first five starts since the NL began tracking earned runs in 1912. He is 0-1 mainly because the Cubs have totaled just eight runs combined in his starts. The Cardinals got to Dempster after the Cubs’ four-run sixth, and the right-hander exited with a 1.74 ERA.

LaHair’s two-run homer was the highlight of the Cubs’ four-run fifth, and he added a pair of singles and his first career steal in the seventh.

“I just wanted to slow things down,” LaHair said. “I came off a rough series and I just wanted to get back on track and hit the ball hard and help the team.”

Yadier Molina’s two-run double and Skip Schumaker’s tying RBI single were the key hits in the Cardinals’ four-run sixth. Schumaker is a career .431 hitter against Dempster, the best ever against the right-hander with a minimum of 30 at-bats, according to STATS LLC.

One of the early hits in the rally was Matt Holliday’s liner off the left-field wall that gave Soriano a perfect rebound to hold him to a single.

— Associated Press —

All weekend, the Atlanta Braves got the key hits, got the big outs from their pitchers.

Jason Heyward had just three hits, but two of them put them ahead for good.

Heyward ended a 10-pitch at-bat with a bases-clearing double in third inning, helping the Braves give rookie Lance Lynn his first loss and beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-4 Sunday to complete a three-game sweep.

“It was a battle,” Heyward said. “I just tried to keep perfecting my timing on every pitch. I just wanted to get a pitch to hit and hit it, or get a walk.

“I know it took a lot of out of him.”

Tommy Hanson (4-3) allowed one run in five innings with a season-high nine strikeouts and Martin Prado, Freddie Freeman and Dan Uggla each had an RBI in a three-run seventh. The Braves had lost seven in a row in St. Louis before Friday and swept the Cardinals for the first time since Sept. 11-13, 2009, also in St. Louis.

All seven of Atlanta’s runs came with two outs.

“We’re rolling right now,” Hanson said. “We’re playing good baseball and doing good things on the road, so hopefully we can go back home and keep it up.”

The Heyward at-bat cost Lynn (6-1) a chance to become the franchise’s first pitcher to win his first seven starts of the season dating to 1920, according to STATS LLC.

“You don’t want to pitch to him in those situations,” Lynn said. “I walked two guys in front of him and you can’t do that and give a guy like that a chance. And he beat me.”

Carlos Beltran homered for the sixth time in six games with his league-leading 13th of the season and Allen Craig hit a three-run homer off Cristhian Martinez in the ninth for his third hit of the game and fifth homer in seven games.

Rafael Furcal had three hits and a walk to extend his hitting streak to 12 games, but the NL Central leaders struck out 14 times and stranded 10 runners while getting swept for the first time.

The Braves totaled 56 runs during a 7-2 trip, including a pair of extra-inning victories, and also swept a three-game series at Colorado. Since losing its first four games of the season, Atlanta is a major-league best 22-9 with four road series wins.

The Cardinals had runners on first and second with none out in the first before Hanson found his stride, and he struck out five of the next seven batters. Hanson fanned cleanup hitter Craig twice and permitted just one runner in scoring position the next four innings before tiring in the sixth.

“I felt good with everything and for the most part did a good job of locating,” Hanson said. “Nah, I didn’t get tired. But I just didn’t make quality pitches that inning.”

Lynn threw a season-high 121 pitches in six innings, retiring his last eight in order, but the Braves made him work early by fouling off 26 pitches the first three innings. He’s among three Cardinals to win their first six starts, along with Bob Tewksbury (1994) and Max Lanier (1946).

Lynn needed 26 pitches to escape unscathed in the first after the Braves put the first two on, and threw 39 more in the third. Heyward, whose 12th-inning two-run homer was the go-ahead hit on Friday, fouled off three pitches on a full count before his bases-clearing double.

Lynn struck out seven and has struck out 27 in 25 2/3 innings his past four starts.

Beltran had been 0 for 13 against Hanson before leading off the sixth with his 13th homer, and Craig and Lance Berkman followed with singles to chase Hanson. Eric O’Flaherty struck out pinch hitters Matt Holliday and Tyler Greene, the last with the bases loaded, to end the inning.

The Cardinals kept the Braves off the board in the first inning for the first time in the series, but were outscored 14-6 the last two games of the series.

Berkman, activated by the Cardinals from the 15-day disabled list from a calf injury before the game, was 1 for 5 with two strikeouts.

“I hadn’t played in a month, so I felt like I was pretty pleased with the at-bats for not having been in there,” Berkman said. “It’s just going to take some time.”

Chipper Jones entered in a double switch in the sixth and was 0 for 1 with a walk in his final regular season appearance in St. Louis. The 40-year-old Jones is retiring after the season and received a Cardinals jersey autographed by boyhood idol Stan Musial in a pregame ceremony.

“I’ve always enjoyed coming here and the fan base in St. Louis is part of that,” Jones said. “You can have an opposing player hit three home runs against the Cardinals and these fans will give him an ovation for a job well done.”

— Associated Press —

Chris Johnson hit his first career grand slam, Bud Norris continued his dominance of the Cardinals and the Houston Astros beat St. Louis 8-2 on Saturday night to win a fifth consecutive game for the first time since late 2010.

The victory earned the Astros their second consecutive home series win with a game to spare. The last time the Astros won five straight was Aug. 22-26, 2010.

Norris (2-1) limited the Cardinals to one unearned run on three hits over six innings to improve to 7-2 in 11 career starts against them.

Left-hander Jaime Garcia (2-2) was charged with six runs on four hits in six innings for the Cardinals, who lost their season-worst third straight. Garcia walked four and struck out two for his second loss in as many starts.

Jed Lowrie hit a two-run home run in the eighth off Cardinals reliever J.C. Romero for the final margin. It was originally ruled an RBI double, but after a review the umpiring crew changed it to a homer after seeing the ball bounce off the railing above the yellow line over the left-field wall. It was Lowrie’s fourth home run of the season.

Justin Maxwell went 2 for 3 with two doubles, an RBI, a run scored and a walk in his fourth start for the Astros since being picked up off waivers from the New York Yankees on April 8.

Johnson more than made up for a fielding error in the top of the first by taking Garcia deep on an 0-2 pitch with two outs in the bottom half to give the Astros a 4-1 lead. The slam came in Johnson’s second start since he went 4 for 4 with two home runs and a career-high six RBIs in Wednesday’s 8-1 win over the New York Mets.

Garcia had walked Brian Bogusevic, Carlos Lee and Jed Lowrie to load the bases for Johnson.

The Cardinals got on the board first with Carlos Beltran’s RBI single to right field that scored Rafael Furcal, who singled to lead off the game and reached third a batter later when Johnson failed to secure a ground ball.

Maxwell, who started at center field in place of Jordan Schafer, put the Astros ahead 5-1 with an RBI double in the fourth to plate Johnson, and Norris added a run an out later with a sacrifice fly.

After a shaky first, Norris was dominant the next three innings, at one point retiring eight in a row. He allowed three walks in the sixth, including one to David Freese with two outs to load the bases, before getting catcher Yadier Molina to ground into a forceout to end the inning.

Norris, who walked four, struck out four and drove in a run, got his first win since April 19 at Washington. The Astros improved to 5-1 with Norris as the starter.

Matt Holiday hit an RBI single off Astros reliever David Carpenter in the eighth inning to score John Jay and cut the Astros’ lead to four before Lowrie went deep.

— Associated Press —

There was a particular pitch Jose Altuve was looking for after studying Kyle Lohse in preparation for Friday night’s game.

When he saw that 90 mph, sinker barreling his way, he knew just what to do with it.

Altuve put the Houston Astros on top with a three-run homer in the second inning and they held on for a 5-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.

“I went out today with a plan and I was expecting that pitch,” he said. “He threw it and I hit it really good.”

The win is the fourth straight for the Astros and the second consecutive loss for the National League Central-leading Cardinals.

The game was tied at 2-2 before Altuve’s shot, which a fan in the top row of the Crawford Boxes in left field caught, to give Houston a 5-2 lead.

“He has a nice short swing, and he’s not missing too many pitches that catch too much of the plate, and he did it again tonight,” St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said.

It was another good night for Altuve, who is among the top batters in the NL with a .360 average this season and whose 14 multi-hit games lead the NL.

It is the fifth straight game where the Astros have had at least one homer, which is their longest streak since also homering in five in row from last May 29 to June 2.

Houston starter Lucas Harrell (2-2) gave up seven hits and four runs in 5 1/3 innings. Closer Brett Myers allowed one hit in a scoreless ninth for his seventh save after three other relievers combined to pitch 2 2/3 scoreless innings.

Lohse (4-1), who started the season 4-0 for the first time in his career, had his worst outing of the season. He allowed seven hits and five runs — both season highs — in a season-low five innings. Three of his runs were earned the others came because of two errors by the Cardinals.

“He had trouble getting the ball down,” Matheny said. “He got balls in the air. This was a day that he just didn’t have that down bite. When he is up in the zone, it is going to be a tough day for him.”

Lohse was unable to build on the success he had last season against the Astros when he was 2-0.

Jordan Schafer reached in the first inning on a fielding error by Matt Carpenter. Altuve followed with a single and the pair advanced on a double steal. A single by Carlos Lee scored Schafer before Jed Lowrie’s single sent Altuve home to make it 2-1.

The Cardinals took a 1-0 lead in the first after Rafael Furcal singled and scored when Allen Craig reached on an error by Chris Johnson with two outs.

The miscues continued in the bottom of the second when Schafer reached on an error by Craig, the first baseman, after a single by Harrell. That set up Altuve’s home run.

Carpenter walked with one out in the second inning and later scored on a balk by Harrell to tie it at 2-2.

Jon Jay singled and scored on a triple by Matt Holliday that landed near the bullpen in right center to get St. Louis within 5-3 in the third inning. Harrell was a bit shaken up after landing hard on his chest after diving to try and grab the hit by Jay. He was looked at by trainers and remained in the game.

Holliday scored on a sacrifice fly by Craig to cut the lead to 5-4.

“I thought I was good at the beginning of the game and then the balk really hurt me,” Harrell said. “Then in the third when the wind got knocked out of me, I didn’t take enough time and when I got back up on the mound I kind of rushed and I should have taken a little bit more time.”

The Astros had a chance to add to their lead in the seventh inning after Brian Bogusevic walked after a two-out double by Lowrie. But Johnson grounded out to end the threat.

Yadier Molina singled in the sixth inning before a walk by Skip Schumaker with one out chased Harrell. He was replaced by Wesley Wright, who retired the next two batters to escape the jam.

Schafer walked with two outs in the eighth inning. He has reached base safely in each of the 25 games he’s played this season — tying the longest streak to start a season in franchise history. Denis Menke also reached the mark for the Astros in 1969.

He stole second base for his 11th steal of the season before a fly out by Altuve ended the inning.

— Associated Press —

Trying to explain his 3 for 32 slump earlier in the day, Carlos Beltran said he just hadn’t been seeing the ball very well lately. But the St. Louis Cardinals cleanup hitter added several times, it was nothing to worry about.

Beltran said bye-bye to the bad times in a big way, driving in a career-best seven runs with a pair of three-run home runs and RBI single in the first three innings, leading the way as the Cardinals punished A.J. Burnett and the Pittsburgh Pirates 12-3 on Tuesday night.

“Lately, God knows, I’ve been searching at the plate, trying to find my swing, trying to feel comfortable, trying to be able to go out there and have quality at-bats,” Beltran said. “This game can be like this. It’s a funny game. You have to stay positive.”

Manager Mike Matheny found it somewhat humorous after so much pre-game attention was devoted to discussing Beltran’s tailspin.

“I think the one person that wasn’t even beginning to panic was Carlos,” Matheny said. “He just knows what he’s doing. It was nice to see him have a huge day like that.”

Matheny had been set to give Beltran a day off on Thursday and wasn’t sure whether the big day changed anything.

Rookie Lance Lynn (5-0) joined James Shields as the major leagues’ only five-game winners, allowing three hits and two runs in 6 2/3 innings with six strikeouts to beat the Pirates for the second time in three starts. Lynn has a 1.60 ERA as the replacement starter for Chris Carpenter, sidelined indefinitely with nerve issues in his right shoulder.

“It means we have five wins when I’m pitching, so that’s good,” Lynn said. “That’s all I’m trying to do is help us win when I’m out there. I’m off to a good start and the team’s really been carrying me.”

Burnett (1-2) entered with a 1.38 ERA, and worked seven scoreless innings against the Cardinals for his lone victory on April 21 at home, but trailed 4-0 after six pitches. The right-hander surrendered 12 runs on 12 hits in 2 2/3 innings, as the Pirates tried to save their bullpen.

“I stunk,” Burnett said. “There is nothing more I can say. I was up all night, I couldn’t get anything down. It doesn’t matter who you pitch against, if you get your pitches up you’re going to get hammered.”

The runs allowed topped Burnett’s previous worst of nine on four occasions, the last time Aug. 26, 2011 at Baltimore. He allowed 12 or more hits for the seventh time, exiting one shy of his career worst Aug. 3, 2011 at the Chicago White Sox.

Pirates catcher Rod Barajas was ejected for complaining about home plate umpire Angel Campos’ calls in the second inning, tossing his mask in disgust after a pitch called a ball for a 1-2 count against Beltran. Manager Clint Hurdle was subsequently tossed for defending his player, his first of the season and sixth in his second season with Pittsburgh.

“Things just kind of got a little heated,” Barajas said. “I felt one way, he felt the other way. You get a little frustrated when things don’t go the way you think they should.”

Hurdle said he was frustrated because “We’ve had some disagreements for two days out there. Rod was out there trying to protect his pitcher, making sure we got a fair shake.”

Beltran had one double among his three hits and three RBIs the last nine games, a slump that started three games after he was moved to cleanup. He said after batting practice that he hadn’t been seeing the ball well but several times expressed confidence it would be over soon, then turned it around with his first swing, a three-run shot to right that made it 4-0.

“When I hit the first one out, it was a changeup, I was able to stay on that pitch and drive it out of the ballpark,” Beltran said. “It’s always a good feeling knowing that you’re staying back, you’re seeing the ball well.

“After that i was able to feed off that.”

Beltran had an RBI single in the second before launching another three-run homer in the third that made it 12-1, a drive to left center for Beltran’s team-leading seventh homer after a replay overturned the initial umpire ruling and justified fireworks and a sign in the shape of a truck grill that blinked its headlights even though Beltran initially had to put the brakes on at second base.

Beltran topped his previous RBI high of six and he added a broken-bat single in the fifth to match a career best with his 21st four-hit game.

The top four in the lineup — Rafael Furcal, Jon Jay, Matt Holliday and Beltran — were a combined 9 for 9 with two homers, 10 RBIs and seven runs the first three innings. Jay had three hits and was hit by a pitch his first four trips and is batting .429 with an 11-game hitting streak.

Furcal singled twice with a steal and sacrifice fly, Holliday had two hits, a walk and an RBI and the Cardinals got triples from Daniel Descalso and Matt Carpenter, who had three hits.

The Cardinals have outscored the Pirates 22-10 the first two games. It was the most lopsided loss for Pittsburgh since a 15-1 whipping at Los Angeles Sept. 18.

The NL Central leaders have won five of six and will go for a three-game sweep Thursday with Jake Westbrook (3-1) opposing Erik Bedard (1-4). The Cardinals have outscored their opponents by 65 runs, best in the majors, after 24 games.

— Associated Press —

John Axford’s 48th consecutive save was a strange one. The game ended with a strike-’em-out, throw-’em-out — at the plate.

The St. Louis Cardinals had runners on first and third with none out in the ninth inning but came up empty against the Milwaukee Brewers’ closer.

Axford got a big assist from his fielders, who foiled a double steal while finishing a 3-2 victory Sunday that avoided a three-game sweep.

“I guess it was a best-case scenario,” Axford said. “Luckily, it just kind of worked out.”

Matt Holliday walked to start the ninth and pinch runner Tyler Greene went to third on a single by Carlos Beltran before Axford, who passed Brad Lidge for the fourth-longest streak in major league history, shut the door.

After Axford struck out David Freese on a full count, the Cardinals tried to steal a run when Yadier Molina struck out on a high delivery, with Beltran breaking for second and Greene ready to head home if there was a throw.

When catcher Jonathan Lucroy double-pumped on his throw to second it threw off Greene’s timing. Beltran, meanwhile, stopped early because he thought he’d be a certain out, leaving Greene an easy out on a relay from shortstop Alex Gonzalez.

“I don’t know what they were doing or what was going on, but it ended up working out for us,” Lucroy said. “It was a weird play.”

Greene didn’t come close to touching the bag on a hook slide.

“Beltran was stealing and if he threw down I was going to try to take off for home,” Greene said. “He almost pump-faked, so that kind of changed things a little bit.”

It was the final failure in the clutch for the Cardinals, who were 2 for 14 with runners in scoring position and stranded 13 runners.

“I’ll just say that that play didn’t go as planned,” manager Mike Matheny said.

Zack Greinke worked six strong innings and Lucroy’s two-run double capped a three-run sixth for the Brewers.

Greinke (3-1) allowed a run on seven hits to help stop the Brewers’ six-game road losing streak. He’s 2-1 with a 2.11 ERA in four career games in St. Louis. He pitched a lot better than in his only other road start this year, when he surrendered eight runs in 3 2/3 innings at Chicago on April 12.

The Cardinals had at least two baserunners in four of Greinke’s innings, but the right-hander got the big outs.

“That’s not really the way Zack pitches but I thought he battled great,” manager Ron Roenicke said. “I don’t know if he’s trying to be perfect at times, but sometimes that gets him in trouble.”

Jaime Garcia (2-1) fell to 17-10 at home with a 2.38 ERA and all three of his shutouts, and 12-7 with 4.15 ERA on the road.

Axford is 5 for 5 this year and last blew a save on April 18, 2011, at Philadelphia. He’s well aware of the streak.

“It’s nice to do 48,” Axford said. “The streak is great, it’s great individually, but it’s more on the team side. Obviously, if I don’t get the save we’re not going to get the win so I’d rather lock it down and get the win for the team.”

St. Louis missed a chance to make it 2-0 in the fifth when, with one out, Garcia broke for home from third on Holliday’s routine flyout to medium center, a certain sacrifice fly if he’d have tagged up.

“Yeah, that was terrible baserunning,” Garcia said. “It’s the first time it’s ever happened to me. I’ll learn from that.”

The Brewers took the lead with a four-hit, three-run sixth. Aramis Ramirez had an RBI single to tie it and Lucroy, who had been 3 for 17 with runners in scoring position on the year, made it a two-run cushion with a drive off the left-field wall.

Lucroy thought the Cardinals were going to walk him so Garcia could face Travis Ishikawa in a lefty-lefty matchup, especially after Molina visited the mound.

“That’s what I would do, too,” Lucroy said. “He just made a mistake.”

Matheny showed faith in Garcia when he pulled back a pinch hitter with two outs and one on in the sixth, and Garcia singled for the second straight at-bat. Rafael Furcal flied out to end the threat.

Garcia had a season-high six strikeouts in seven innings, his third straight start of seven innings or more.

Kameron Loe got Molina, who had six straight hits after singling in the second and had been 7 for 11 in the series, on a groundout with two on to end the seventh. The Cardinals cut the gap to a run when Matt Carpenter doubled off Francisco Rodriguez to start the eighth and scored on pinch hitter Daniel Descalso’s groundout.

— Associated Press —

Alfonso Soriano hit a game-ending RBI single in the 10th inning, and the Chicago Cubs beat St. Louis 3-2 on Wednesday night, ending the Cardinals’ run of 13 consecutive winning series.

Tony Campana sparked the winning rally with a one-out single off Fernando Salas (0-1). Campana then stole second in a close call that led to the first ejection for Cardinals manager Mike Matheny.

After Starlin Castro struck out, Bryan LaHair was walked intentionally before Soriano hit a full-count pitch off second baseman Tyler Greene and into the outfield. Campana scored easily to give the Cubs their second consecutive dramatic victory against the Cardinals

James Russell (1-0) pitched a scoreless inning to get the win.

Chicago led 1-0 before Matt Holliday hit a two-run homer off Carlos Marmol with two out in the eighth inning. LaHair then tied it with a leadoff drive off Marc Rzepczynski in the ninth.

The Cubs also beat the Cardinals 3-2 on Monday night on Joe Mather’s game-ending, two-run single. They will go for the three-game sweep Wednesday afternoon.

St. Louis won its last seven series in the regular season last year, then stormed through the playoffs to the World Series title. It opened this season with six more series wins before running into the slumping Cubs, who had dropped seven of eight before the Cards came to town.

It was St. Louis’ first series loss since it dropped two of three against Cincinnati from Sept. 2-4. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the 2002 Braves were the last team to put together a 13-series streak.

The Cardinals had just four hits before Holliday drove a 2-2 pitch over the wall in center for his fourth homer. Rafael Furcal set up the go-ahead drive with a one-out walk against Rafael Dolis, who retired Skip Schumaker before first-year manager Dale Sveum went to his closer with Holliday coming to the plate.

Carlos Beltran then walked and move to third on Marmol’s errant pickoff attempt before David Freese flied out to end the inning. The erratic closer was jeered by the Wrigley Field crowd of 38,894 as he made his way to the dugout.

Chicago nearly wasted a terrific outing by Jeff Samardzija, who struck out nine in 6 2/3 innings. The right-hander yielded just four hits and two walks in his second start against Adam Wainwright and the Cardinals in 11 days.

Samardzija pitched five shaky innings at St. Louis on April 13, but the Cubs roughed up Wainwright in a 9-5 victory.

This one was much different.

Wainwright allowed one run and six hits over six innings in his best start since he had elbow-ligament replacement surgery last February, sidelining him for the 2011 season. The 6-foot-7 right-hander struck out seven and walked one, but remained winless in four starts this year.

Chicago grabbed the lead in the first. David DeJesus drove a leadoff double into the right-field corner and advanced on Tony Campana’s sacrifice. Starlin Castro then lofted a fly ball to right, leading to a disputed call at home.

Beltran settled under Castro’s ball and made a strong throw to the first-base side, forcing Gold Glove catcher Yadier Molina to dive across the plate with his glove. Molina was right there as DeJesus stuck his left arm out while sliding past home on the dugout side, drawing a safe call from umpire Chris Conroy.

DeJesus clapped his hands and scurried back to the dugout as Molina popped up and began arguing with Conroy. Matheny popped out of the dugout and got between Molina and Conroy before continuing the argument with the umpire. Looking at the TV replays, it was unclear whether DeJesus ever touched home, but Matheny eventually left the field after a short argument.

It was a busy night for Molina, who had two hits, made a rare throwing error and picked DeJesus off second after a leadoff double in the fifth.

The Cubs had a chance to add to their lead in the fourth, putting runners on second and third with no outs. But Wainwright wiggled out of the jam, showing the moxie that made him one of baseball’s best pitchers before the elbow injury.

Ian Stewart and Darwin Barney struck out swinging, the latter on three pitches, before Wainwright issued an intentional walk to Geovany Soto. Samardzija then popped out to end the inning.

— Associated Press —

Joe Mather was just happy to help the Cubs get a win. Beating his former teammates was pretty sweet, too.

Mather’s two-run single with two outs in the ninth inning rallied Chicago to a 3-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday night.

“It just feels good,” Mather said. “The whole atmosphere in the stadium and in the clubhouse, in the dugout, everybody was just excited.”

Hard-throwing closer Jason Motte (1-1) had the Cubs down to their final strike when Mather, a former Cardinal, grounded a 2-2 slider up the middle, driving in Bryan LaHair and Geovany Soto.

“I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t (extra satisfying),” Mather said. “I have a lot of good friends over there. It does feel good. When it comes down to it, ultimately we won a big-league game and the self-satisfaction is secondary.”

While Mather got the winning hit, LaHair’s 12-pitch battle with Motte may have been the game’s key at-bat. After the count went full, LaHair fouled off six straight pitches before Motte missed with a fastball.

“I just don’t have any fear,” LaHair said about his patient approach. “That kind of situation, you have to just kind of relax and just breathe. Let the anxiety go.”

Motte then walked Soto, but said it wasn’t a matter of LaHair wearing him down.

“No, I’m out there still trying to make pitches,” Motte said. “I made some really good pitches, he just did a good job of fouling them off and keeping himself in the at-bat.”

Steve Clevenger’s grounder moved the runners up to set the plate for Mather, who was drafted by the Cardinals in 2001 and spent 10 seasons in the organization.

Mather fell behind 0-2 and angrily stalked out of the batter’s box after taking the second strike. He then took two pitches off the plate before lacing the game-ending single.

The hit made a winner of reliever Rafael Dolis (1-1), though for seven-plus innings the starters were the story of the game.

Jaime Garcia appeared to have outpitched Matt Garza as he threw just 85 pitches before departing with two outs in the eighth, striking out just four batters and walking one.

“That was one hell of a game,” Garza said. “We came up big at the end. That’s awesome.”

Garza held St. Louis to two runs in seven innings, and has allowed three earned runs or fewer in his last 14 home starts, the longest streak by a Cubs pitcher since Mark Prior had 16 in a row over the 2004 and 2005 seasons.

St. Louis grabbed the lead in the fourth after Skip Schumaker led off with an infield single and went to third on Matt Holliday’s double down the left-field line. Schumaker scored on Carlos Beltran’s groundout, and Holliday scored on Yadier Molina’s sacrifice fly.

Garcia gave up a first-inning run when Alfonso Soriano’s sacrifice fly scored Darwin Barney, but he limited Chicago to just four hits over his final 6 2/3 innings. He was aided by double plays in the fifth and sixth.

“(Garcia) was terrific,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. “You look at the run early on, and that was from two infield hits. Whenever he did get in a little spot, he got that extra movement, double plays.”

Darwin Barney singled twice, walked, and scored the Cubs’ only run. Castro legged out an infield single in the first, increasing his hitting streak to 11 games. He’s reached base in 56 of his last 57 games.

The Cubs went homerless for the ninth straight game, their longest drought since June 30 to July 13, 2007. Chicago is last in the majors with just five homers on the season, but on Monday, singles were enough.

“These are the kind of things you have to build on,” LaHair said.

— Associated Press —