Anthony Rizzo checked off another milestone as he continues to live up to the hype.

Rizzo hit a two-run homer in the 10th inning and lifted the Chicago Cubs over the St. Louis Cardinals 4-2 on Sunday.

Starlin Castro led off the inning with a single against Trevor Rosenthal (0-1), and Rizzo followed with his seventh homer — and first game-ender.

“This is the best,” an elated Rizzo said. “This is something I’ve always dreamed of doing since I was a little kid. I’ve never done it before. Not in the minors, not in little league, not ever.

“This is awesome.”

James Russell (5-0) worked an inning for the win. The Cubs are 12-3 in their last 15 home games, and 17-10 since Rizzo was called up in June.

The 22-year-old slugger didn’t remember running around the bases or getting mobbed by teammates at the plate. He maintained his presence of mind leading up to the big hit.

“Later innings, guys press a little harder. I see a lot of veteran hitters throughout baseball always just relaxed at the plate, taking pitches and not being too aggressive,” Rizzo said. “That’s something I took into this at-bat.

“I’m always a little overanxious in situations like that, and took a clean swing and let the rest take care of itself.”

A struggling Carlos Beltran homered off Shawn Camp with one out in the St. Louis eighth, tying it at 2. The opposite-field solo shot was his 23rd homer, but just his third in July. The All-Star is hitting .188 this month.

Cubs starter Paul Maholm allowed one run and four hits over 6 2/3 innings. He walked four and struck out five.

Maholm exited with the bases loaded in the seventh, and Manny Corpas retired Allen Craig on a fly ball to end the threat.

Maholm has allowed one run or fewer in six straight starts, becoming the first lefty in modern Cubs history to do so. He had won the previous five outings.

“He is arguably the best pitcher in the last month in all of baseball,” Cubs manager Dale Sveum said. “That’s the best lineup in the National League and by far the best right-handed hitting lineup in the National League, too.

“He did one heck of a job against the best.”

Even with trade rumors flying around, the rebuilding Cubs have kept on winning.

“There’s a reason I signed here. I’ve always enjoyed playing here throughout my career,” Maholm said. “They gave me a chance to come in and prove that I was healthy, and I am. Hopefully we can turn this into a long-term thing. We’ll see how everything unfolds and go from there.”

Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright gave up two runs in six innings. He wasn’t fooling anybody early, allowing six of the first nine batters to reach base.

David DeJesus tripled in the first and scored on Castro’s groundout. Darwin Barney doubled in the second and scored on an error in the second.

Barney had two doubles and a single.

Wainwright settled down to retire 12 of his final 14 batters.

“No fastball control whatsoever. Luckily, I had a good breaking ball and a good cutter going,” Wainwright said. “Early on we had to make some adjustments on how we were going to attack guys and try to figure out a way to make it work.”

Beltran’s homer got Wainwright off the hook for what could have been his first loss in 13 career appearances at Wrigley Field. Wainwright is 5-0 at the ballpark, including his 20th win in 2010 when he finished second in the NL Cy Young voting.

The Cardinals threatened several times but were largely unable to get the big hit, leaving 10 men on base.

“(Maholm) kept us off balance,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. “He did a nice job of pitching, mixed up everything — used both sides of the plate, up and down. We couldn’t get anything going.”

Despite a throwing error that allowed Barney to score in the second, shortstop Daniel Descalso made several exceptional defensive plays, including a dazzling diving stab and throw in the third to rob Rizzo of a hit.

— Associated Press —

 Reed Johnson saw only one pitch in the game, and that was all he needed to have a big impact with a little hit.

Pinch hitting in the seventh inning, Johnson drove in the go-ahead with a bunt single and the Chicago Cubs got past St. Louis 3-2 on Saturday, ending the Cardinals’ four-game winning streak.

Johnson caught the Cardinals by surprise when he squared up on the first pitch with runners on first and third and two outs. Johnson’s bunt fell perfectly between reliever Brian Fuentes and third baseman Matt Carpenter, allowing pinch-runner Tony Campana to score.

“That’s a part of my game,” Johnson said. “If there is an RBI out there (and if) they’re going to give me that bunt at third, I’m going to take advantage of that every time.”

The Cubs snapped a five-game skid against St. Louis and have won nine of their past 11 at Wrigley Field. One day after the Cardinals homered in each of the first five innings in a 9-6 win over the Cubs, Chicago evened the series on a hit that traveled about 40 feet.

“That was all on his own,” Cubs manager Dale Sveum said. “Reed is one of them baseball players that has those things in his toolbox.

“He’s just an ultimate baseball player that you love having around,” he said.

James Russell (3-0) earned the win in relief.

Carlos Marmol pitched the ninth for his 13th save in 15 chances. He struck out Skip Schumaker and got John Jay on a groundout with pinch-runner Tyler Greene on second to end the type of game the Cubs struggled to win earlier this season.

“The back of that bullpen has been pretty good,” Sveum said. “It wasn’t all that good at the beginning.”

Bryan LaHair drew a leadoff walk in the seventh from rookie Joe Kelly (1-4). Campana entered the game and stole his 26th base in 29 tries, then went to third on Geovany Soto’s single. Two outs later, Johnson bunted for a hit.

“Campana, that’s a huge stolen base against the best throwing catcher in baseball after they were really keeping him close, ” Sveum said. “That’s a big-time stolen base in a big situation.”

Kelly gave up a two-run triple to Alfonso Soriano in the first, but limited Chicago to three runs over a career-high 6 1/3 innings. He retired 14 straight batters at one point and struck out a career-best six. Kelly hasn’t allowed more than three runs in any of his nine outings this season.

“I went out there and gave up two early and in that environment it’s not too easy to come back from,” Kelly said. “I was confident in my skills and my stuff and felt good, make quality pitches down in the zone and let our team have a chance to come back.”

Both starters struggled early, then settled down — combining to strike out seven straight batters at one point.

Cubs starter Jeff Samardzija’s first seven pitches eluded the strike zone and he walked the bases full on 16 pitches. He limited St. Louis to one run in the inning on an RBI grounder by Carlos Beltran.

“Back in the day, it probably would have been a different day for me,” Samardzija said. “I’m starting to learn how to pitch in those situations, and how to get out of them with minimal damage.”

The Cubs are still 17 games under .500 for the season, but improved to 17-10 since June 25.

“I really like how we’re playing baseball right now,” Samardzija said. “It’s fun to come to the park. Everybody is excited and happy.”

— Associated Press —