CHICAGO — Matt Szczur hit two home runs and the Chicago Cubs won their 11th straight game, backing Jake Arrieta and battering Adam Wainwright to rout the St. Louis Cardinals 13-2 Friday.
Willson Contreras launched a three-run shot to cap a five-run second inning, and Javier Baez and Jorge Soler also went deep to make things easy for Arrieta (14-5).
The Cubs pulled 14 games ahead of scuffling St. Louis in the NL Central and improved the best record in the majors to 73-41.
Szczur and Kris Bryant each had three hits. The Cubs roughed up Wainwright (9-7) for seven runs and chased him after two innings, tying his shortest outing in 245 career starts.
Arrieta pitched one-run ball into the sixth inning and gave up four hits overall.
Stephen Piscotty and Jedd Gyorko homered for the Cardinals, who remain in a tight race for the second NL wild card despite dropping six of their last nine.
PADRES 8, METS 6: Rookie Ryan Schimpf hit a grand slam and added a two-run shot as San Diego won at New York.
Jabari Blash and Christian Bethancourt also homered early to help the Padres hand the Mets their fourth straight loss and sixth in seven games The defending NL champions (57-58) fell below .500.
BRAVES 8, NATIONALS 5: Jace Peterson, Freddie Freeman and Anthony Recker homered and Atlanta snapped a 14-game losing streak in the nation’s capital.
Atlanta hadn’t won in Washington since Sept. 10, 2014, and was 0-6 against the NL East leaders this season.
Nationals starter Stephen Strasburg (15-3) struggled at home again, surrendering six runs in 5 1/3 innings.
PHILLIES 10, ROCKIES 6: Ryan Howard hit a grand slam and drove in five runs to help Jake Thompson earn his first major league victory and lead Philadelphia at home.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
ASTROS 5, BLUE JAYS 3: Joe Musgrove pitched seven innings for his first major league win, Teoscar Hernandez homered for his first big league hit and Houston won at Toronto.
Astros DH Evan Gattis had four hits, including two doubles. Hernandez had two hits and reached base three times.
Houston extended its winning streak to four.
INDIANS 13, ANGELS 3: Rajai Davis and Jose Ramirez each stole three bases to help host Cleveland tie the franchise record with eight, and Brandon Guyton drove in five runs against Los Angeles.
Jason Kipnis and Francisco Lindor added steals for Cleveland to match the record that was first accomplished on Aug. 27, 1917, against the Washington Senators. .
YANKEES 6, RAYS 3: Alex Rodriguez went 1 for 4 with a first-inning double and played a final inning at third base and host New York beat Tampa Bay in a clash of the fourth- and fifth-place teams in the AL East.
INTERLEAGUE
WHITE SOX 4, MARLINS 2: Carlos Rodon pitched six innings for his first victory since May and Chicago won on the road.
Adam Eaton tied a career high with four hits for Chicago in its first game in Miami since 2004.
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