Goldschmidt, Gorman lead Cardinals 14-5 victory over Cubs

The St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Chicago Cubs 14-5, with Paul Goldschmidt homering to extend his hitting streak to 25 games and Corey Dickerson going deep twice. As the Cardinals won their fourth game, Nolan Gorman and Lars Nootbaar also displayed their strengths.

Goldschmidt launched his 12th home run in the third inning, a three-run drive. The six-time All-Star was closing in on a career-high 26-game hitting streak with Arizona in 2013 when he reached base in his 39th consecutive game.

Goldschmidt has 10 home runs and 36 RBIs in his previous 22 games, dating back to May 11. He leads the National League with a.349 average and 47 RBIs.

Game highlights

Following a 1-2-3 first inning by starting pitcher Marcus Stroman, Patrick Wisdom hit a three-run homer to left-center in the bottom of the first, putting the Cubs up 3-0.

With Stroman's recent performance (he'd allowed just 6 earned runs in his previous 5 outings), it appeared an easy victory was on the way. Instead, the polar opposite occurred, as the Cardinals sailed to a 14-5 victory.

In the third inning, the Cards took the lead on Goldschmidt's three-run homer and put the game away with a 5 fourth.

"Just didn't pitch good," said Stroman. "They just beat me up a bit. ... Our offense did enough to get a win, so I've just got to be better."

Stroman had a chance to escape the third inning, but Goldschmidt smacked an 88-mph splitter into the right-center field bleachers.

In the fourth inning, Stroman gave up 4 straight two-out hits, including a three-run home run by Nolan Gorman, and the Cardinals (30-22) went on to win their 10th in 14 games.

When the Cubs loaded the bases with nobody out in the fifth, Wisdom struck out. A tagging Rafael Ortega (3-for-4, BB) was thrown out at home when Jason Heyward's shallow flyball to right field was caught.

Frank Schwindel pitched the ninth inning and reached base safely in all four of his plate appearances. He took the first two batters out of the way but then let in back-to-back home runs.

Carlson begins rehab, Contreras out of the line-up

Gorman returned on Tuesday as the designated hitter for the baseball team after sitting out the previous three games due to lower back discomfort. OFs Tyler O'Neill (right shoulder impingement) and Dylan Carlson (strained left hamstring) were scheduled to begin their respective rehab assignments with Triple-A Memphis and Double-A Springfield, respectively.

On Thursday, Willson Contreras was removed from the starting lineup due to a pitch that struck him in the left ankle. However, he was available off the bench. Right-handed pitcher Adbert Alzolay was expected to resume playing catch in Arizona after suffering from a strained right shoulder. He is currently on the 60-day injured list.

A split doubleheader concludes the five-game, four-day series. Both teams were awaiting the announcement of their starting lineups. However, Cubs manager David Ross acknowledged that Caleb Killian, who was acquired from San Francisco last season in the deal that sent former MVP Kris Bryant to the Giants, could start one of the games.