Major League Baseball
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Chi. Cubs 3, St. Louis 2
When: 1:05 PM ET, Saturday, July 28, 2012
Where: Wrigley Field, Chicago, Illinois
Temperature: 76°
Umpires: Home - Angel Campos, 1B - Mike Winters, 2B - Mark Wegner, 3B - Brian Knight
Attendance: 41276

Cubs 3, Cardinals 2: Reed Johnson brought home the go-ahead run on a squeeze bunt in the seventh inning as host Chicago snapped St. Louis’ four-game win streak.

With runners on first and third and two outs in a 2-2 game, Johnson took advantage of the infield playing back and bunted toward third. Reliever Brian Fuentes picked it up but had no play as pinch runner Tony Campana scored easily.

The Cubs, who beat the Cardinals for the first time in their last six tries, have won 11 of their last 14 at Wrigley Field.

St. Louis wasted a golden chance in the first after Jeff Samardzija walked the bases loaded on his first 16 pitches. He escaped allowing only one run, on Carlos Beltran’s RBI groundout.

Chicago jumped on rookie Joe Kelly (1-4) in the bottom half. David DeJesus singled, Starlin Castro doubled and Alfonso Soriano tripled into the left-field corner with one out for a 2-1 lead. St. Louis tied it on Daniel Descalso’s sixth-inning sacrifice fly.

Samardzija pitched six innings, allowing two runs on three hits. He struck out seven and walked six. James Russell (4-0) got the win with a scoreless seventh, and Carlos Marmol earned his 13th save despite allowing a leadoff hit in the ninth.

Kelly has taken both Cardinals’ losses in the last nine games. He was hurt by a leadoff walk in the seventh, and was charged with three runs on five hits in 6 1/3 innings. He fanned six and walked one.

Cubs manager Dale Sveum was ejected in the seventh for arguing a call at first base.

GAME NOTEBOOK:
Cards 3B David Freese did not play for the second straight game due to a cramped right calf. Matt Carpenter took his place. … Beltran’s first-inning RBI gave him 72, tying him for the NL lead with Arizona’s Jason Kubel. … Descalso started at shortstop for the fifth time this season, giving Rafael Furcal the day off. … DeJesus is 6-for-16 in his last four games, with three extra-base hits and three runs scored. … The Cubs improved to 5-8 against the Cardinals this season.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
St. Louis   Chi. Cubs
Joe Kelly Player Jeff Samardzija
Loss W/L No Decision
6.1 IP 6.0
6 Strikeouts 7
5 Hits 3
4.26 ERA 3.00
Hitting
St. Louis   Chi. Cubs
Daniel Descalso Player David DeJesus
2 Hits 2
1 RBI 0
0 HR 0
2 TB 2
.667 Avg .667
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
St. Louis 5 0 5 .167 19 9 2 7 1 0
Chi. Cubs 6 0 9 .200 14 8 3 2 1 0