CHICAGO (AP) — When St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Matheny visited the mound with two out and two on in the seventh inning on Sunday, he had no idea whether he was going to replace starter Adam Wainwright.

“I was good to go either way,” Matheny said. “I needed to look in his eyes and not hear what he says but see how he says it. I’m kind of watching his mannerisms and then I give him a chance to say what he needs to say.”

Matheny liked what he heard (and saw) and returned to the dugout. Wainwright then got Nate Schierholtz to ground out to complete a strong outing.

The right-hander pitched seven scoreless innings and Matt Holliday hit a solo homer to lead the Cardinals to a 1-0 victory and a series win over the Chicago Cubs.

Wainwright (13-5) allowed five hits and walked three during his seven innings to take over the Major League lead in wins. It was a far cry from his previous outing when he allowed six runs (four earned) in 4 2/3 innings against the Tampa Bay Rays last Tuesday.

“The results usually follow my delivery,” Wainwright said. “When I control my delivery — I told you I was gonna get things under wraps — and get my arm in the right spot, success was following that.

“They hit some balls hard, but we played some great defense and made some pitches when we needed to.”

Matheny had no doubts and said he expected a bounce-back effort before the game.

“I don’t think that’s much of a reach when you’re talking about one of the best pitchers in the game,” the manager said. “He’s been so consistent. When you have those days, I guess that’s a reminder of how hard it is to do what he does at the level that he does it.

“It was a big game for us. We needed it to happen and he did everything he could.”

Kevin Siegrist worked the eighth and Trevor Rosenthal pitched the ninth for his 32nd save in 36 chances.

Cubs rookie Kyle Hendricks (1-1) allowed just one run on seven hits in 6 1/3 innings.

“He works quick,” Chicago first baseman Anthony Rizzo said of Hendricks. “The groundballs are nice. The double plays are nice. It’s all we can ask from him really, especially two days now where, both games at home, not good days to pitch at Wrigley. He did a really nice job.”

With the wind blowing out to right field, the conditions seemed ideal for a classic Wrigley Field slugfest — a feeling seemingly confirmed when Holliday, the third batter of the game, lifted a drive to center field that landed in the batter’s eye for a solo homer and a 1-0 Cardinals lead.

But that’s where the score stayed as the starters took control.

The only time Hendricks was close to giving up a run after the first inning came after he was lifted in the seventh inning with a runner on first base and one out. Left-hander Wesley Wright loaded the bases with two out, but got Wainwright to line out softly to first base.

Even though a base hit would have broken the game open, Matheny never considered pinch hitting with Wainwright having only thrown 83 pitches to that point.

“It’s all about pitching at that point,” he said. “We’re having a hard time getting something going offensively and we can roll the dice — we have a live bullpen — but we’ve got one of the best pitchers in the league on the mound. To me, especially with what his pitch count was, I want him going back on the mound.”

When asked how long the list is of pitchers he let hit there, Matheny said: “Very short. Maybe one on that list.”

— Associated Press —

CHICAGO (AP) — Once again, the Cardinals relied on Matt Adams’ clutch bat.

Adams drove in four runs, A.J. Pierzynski had three hits in his St. Louis debut and the Cardinals beat the Chicago Cubs 6-3 on Saturday to stop a four-game skid.

Adams doubled sharply in the first inning, a one-hopper that bounced past first baseman Anthony Rizzo and into right field to score two runs. Adams’ two-run triple with two outs in the seventh made it 5-2.

“He was our guy today,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. “If you look at when we started to gain some traction in our division, it’s when Matt started to go. Not to put the pressure on him, but he was the guy at the time and he’s continued to do that, to step up big for us.”

Helping out Adams was the 37-year-old Pierzynski, who signed with the Cardinals on Saturday, 10 days after he was released by Boston. St. Louis had been looking for a steady presence behind the plate since All-Star catcher Yadier Molina tore a ligament in his right thumb July 9.

Molina had surgery two days later and is expected to miss eight to 12 weeks.

“That was pretty much a cram session for A.J. there,” Matheny said. “He did a nice job coming in, obviously making an impact with the bat, but I felt like he had a nice feel for what Shelby (Miller) was doing.”

Miller returned to the Cardinals’ rotation and pitched effectively into the sixth inning.

The young right-hander began the game with three perfect innings and retired 16 of his first 18 batters. In his first start since being removed from the rotation July 10, Miller allowed two runs and three hits in 5⅔ innings. He had given up at least three runs in his previous five starts.

Randy Choate (2-2) got the last out of the sixth. Trevor Rosenthal worked around two hits in a scoreless ninth, earning his 31st save in 35 tries.

“When you get in a groove and you’re feeling pretty good, in a rhythm, you just keep going,” Miller said. “That’s kind of what I felt like I did today.”

Nate Schierholtz hit a solo shot for the Cubs in the sixth, tying it at 2. It was Schierholtz’s fourth career pinch-hit homer.

Rizzo drove in a run with a groundout in the fourth.

Cubs starter Jake Arrieta settled in after the two-run first inning, allowing just three baserunners the rest of the way. He thwarted Cardinals threats in the fourth and fifth, and a diving catch by left fielder Chris Coughlan helped Arrieta escape the sixth.

“He did it with not his best stuff, but he was still pretty effective,” Cubs manager Rick Renteria said. “That performance was probably indicative of how much he’s grown.”

With Arrieta out of the game, the Cardinals pulled back ahead in the seventh, scoring four runs against reliever James Russell (0-2). Jon Jay hit a leadoff single, advanced on a sacrifice and stole third before scoring the tiebreaking run on Matt Carpenter’s grounder.

Russell’s four earned runs allowed marked his worst outing since July 21, 2012, when he gave up six, also against the Cardinals.

Ryan Sweeney hit a leadoff homer against Pat Neshek in the eighth, his third home run of the season and second this series.

— Associated Press —

CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Cubs don’t have the look of a team more interested in draft position than on-field success.

One day after the Central Division cellar-dwellers couldn’t have looked worse in a 13-3 embarrassment against the lowly San Diego Padres, they showed some grit in a come-from-behind, 7-6 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals, who suffered their fourth consecutive loss on Friday.

A persistent wind at their backs, the division rivals treated the largest crowd at Wrigley Field this season to five home runs and 23 hits.

“A good team win,” said manager Rick Renteria, whose club trailed 3-0 before even getting a chance to bat. “The crowd was buzzing all day. It was a pretty neat environment. Obviously, the fans were into it.”

Luis Valbuena hit a decisive two-run homer in the seventh to decide the see-saw affair.

Kevin Siegrist (1-2) hit Anthony Rizzo with a full-count pitch to start the inning. One batter later, Valbuena launched the first pitch into the center-field bleachers, his first homer against a left-hander in 37 at-bats this season.

“I was looking for a fastball, and I got a fastball right there,” Valbuena said. “That’s why I got aggressive.”

“We had the matchups we wanted right there,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. “We wanted (a left-hander) in that situation, in that part of the lineup, and a lefty ended up getting him.”

The Cardinals tied the score 5-5 on solo homers by Matt Carpenter and Matt Holliday in the fifth inning. Pinch-hitter Oscar Taveras singled to break the tie in the sixth, but the lead was short-lived.

Justin Grimm (3-2) pitched a scoreless inning for the win. Hector Rondon retired the side in the ninth for his 12th save in 15 chances.

Cubs starter Travis Wood did well to survive five innings after a rocky start. He allowed five runs — two earned — and seven hits with one walk.

Wood aided his cause with a solo homer off Joe Kelly in the fourth inning, his third of the season. He became the first Cubs pitcher since Carlos Zambrano (2009) with at least 10 RBIs in a season.

“They fought off a lot of pitches and made me work,” Wood said. “I was only able to go five, but luckily, I was able to keep it close and we were able to pull it out.”

Ryan Sweeney’s three-run homer pulled Chicago even at 3-3 in the second inning. Kelly had not allowed an earned run in 18 1/3 innings against the Cubs before then.

One inning later, Sweeney singled home Valbuena, who had walked, for a 4-3 lead.

Kelly lasted 4 2/3 innings allowing eight hits and two walks.

St. Louis struck first with three unearned three runs in the opening inning, when Wood was forced to throw 32 pitches largely because of two errors behind him.

Carpenter and Holliday singled, then rookie second baseman Arismendy Alcantara threw away a potential double-play grounder that allowed a run to score.

One out later, Jon Jay hit a two-run double, and when left fielder Chris Coghlan allowed the ball to get past him, the batter advanced to third base on the second error of the inning.

— Associated Press —