Cardinals crush 4 homers in dominating 8-2 win over Cubs

The St. Louis Cardinals powered past the Chicago Cubs 8-2 on Monday night, riding a season-high four home runs and a sharp outing from starter Matthew Liberatore to secure their sixth win in seven games.

Alec Burleson and Brendan Donovan both launched two-run homers during a five-run fifth inning that broke the game open. Lars Nootbaar and Nolan Gorman also went deep, marking the first time since April 30 that St. Louis hit four homers in a game.

Liberatore (5-6) delivered seven solid innings, allowing two runs on six hits while striking out five. He kept the Cubs in check throughout, earning his third win in four starts.



Chicago briefly cut the lead to 2-1 in the fifth after Pete Crow-Armstrong doubled and scored on Carson Kelly’s single. But the Cardinals responded emphatically in the bottom half, with Donovan and Burleson sparking a barrage that chased Cubs starter Ben Brown (4-6), who was tagged for eight runs over five innings.


Nootbaar had earlier set the tone with his 10th home run of the season in the fourth inning following a Willson Contreras double, giving St. Louis an early 2-0 cushion.

Michael Fulmer, recalled from Triple-A Iowa, provided two scoreless innings of relief for the Cubs, but the damage had already been done.