ST. LOUIS — Cubs leadoff hitter Ian Happ sent the first pitch of the game on a trip over the right-field fence. It proved to be a sign of good things to come Wednesday.
Everything fell into place from there, as the Cubs routed the Cardinals 8-0.
‘‘This is, you know, our brand of baseball,’’ Happ said after the game. ‘‘Baserunning was great, defense was great, you have [starter Matthew Boyd] on the mound doing his thing, bullpen did a great job, bats were fantastic. Everything was clicking. Those are the games that we like to see, and it puts us back in a good spot.’’
It was only the Cubs’ second victory in their last seven games, but the offense has held strong during that stretch, averaging 6.28 runs in hot and humid weather. But it had been awhile since the Cubs had put it together in all phases of the game.
Boyd held the Cardinals to three hits in six scoreless innings. He worked efficiently against a lineup that had hit a combined seven home runs in the first two games of the series. Only one runner made it into scoring position against Boyd.
‘‘It felt like the game was over by the fifth inning, just how he was pitching,’’ manager Craig Counsell said. ‘‘And just never gave them any hope to score. There were no rallies going on, nothing. So it was just a really, really well-pitched game. And something we needed.’’
Behind Boyd, first baseman Michael Busch made an uncharacteristic error in the first when he missed a catch on a grounder to second. Two innings later, however, he made a backhanded stop to snuff out the Cardinals’ best scoring opportunity against Boyd. And in the ninth, he pounced on another ball to his right and threw out the lead runner as part of reliever Porter Hodge’s scoreless inning in his first appearance since being activated from the 15-day injured list.
In the fourth, third baseman Matt Shaw dived up the line to snag Nolan Arenado’s hard-hit grounder and threw him out at first. It was the second out in a 1-2-3 inning.
In the seventh, with reliever Ryan Brasier on the mound, second baseman Nico Hoerner made a leaping catch on a hard line drive by Nolan Gorman. That ended another perfect inning. Brasier, Michael Fulmer and Hodge completed the shutout.
‘‘We need that,’’ Counsell said of the defensive performance. ‘‘Our pitchers count on it, and we feel like we can deliver it. And tonight was good example of that.’’
The Cubs’ offense, by contrast, worked several long innings against Cardinals pitchers. They knocked starter Eric Fedde out after only 3⅔ innings, scoring seven runs against him.
After Happ’s homer gave the Cubs an immediate lead, Dansby Swanson led off the second with a ground-rule double that bounced over the right-field fence. Busch drove him in with a single into right field. Then, with two outs, Reese McGuire hit a two-run homer to put the Cubs ahead 4-0. It was his third homer in his last four games.
Kyle Tucker added a homer of his own to lead off the third, then the Cubs brought eight hitters to the plate in a two-run fourth. Busch, Happ and Tucker singled, and Shaw and Seiya Suzuki drew walks in the inning. Happ drove in the two runs, and Busch, Shaw and Tucker all had stolen bases.
In the fifth, the Cubs took advantage of a dropped third strike to score another run after a pair of singles and a fielder’s choice.
‘‘The Cardinals are a good team; they’re having a great year,’’ Boyd said. ‘‘We’ve seen it the first few days. So it’s our job to come out [Thursday] and even out the series.’’
