Cubs Win Hitter's Delight Over Cardinals

CHICAGO -- It was a hitting delight for fans as the Chicago Cubs hosted the St. Louis Cardinals Thursday at Wrigley Field.

The Cardinals banged out 15 hits but came up short in the run department as the Cubs had 13 hits and claimed a 9-6 victory.

Ian Happ pounded out a two-run homer to highlight a five-run fifth inning and Jason Heyward hit a pair of RBI singles. Victor Caratini led off the fifth with a single and reached second on an error. Anthony Rizzo hit an RBI double and Kris Bryant followed with a single. Rizzo scored the tying run on Heyward's single. Ben Zobrist hit a sacrifice fly and Happ followed with his 12th homer and the Cubs led 6-3.

They never got behind again, scoring a run in the seventh and two in the eighth.

Caratini and Heyward finished with three singles each. Heyward had two RBI and Caratini one. Rizzo finished with two doubles and an RBI while Bryant had two singles and an RBI. Addison Russell contributed a double.

The Cubs have come from behind 31 times, the most in the Major Leagues. It was Chicago's fourth win in nine games against the Cardinals. The pair will square off eight times in 11 days.

St. Louis had 15 hits but committed three errors. Leading hitters were Yadier Molina with three singles and a double, Tommy Pham with two singles, a home run and an RBI, Matt Carpenter with a solo shot and Marcell Ozuna and Kolten Wong with two singles each. Wong added two RBI.

The two squads will square off again today at 1:20 p.m.

Indians Acquire Hand, Cimber

The Cleveland Indians have acquired pitchers Brad Hand and Adam Cimber from the San Diego Padres. In return, the Padres get outfielder Francisco Mejia.

MLB Expanding?

Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred says he’d like to see the league expand from 30 to 32 teams and mentioned Portland, Las Vegas, Charlotte, Nashville, Vancouver and Mexico as possible locations. However, no definite plans to expand are currently in the works.

Thursday, July 19 Scoreboard

Chicago Cubs 9, St. Louis 6

Friday, July 20 Schedule (All Times Central)

St. Louis at Chicago Cubs, 1:20 p.m.

New York Mets at New York Yankees, 6:05 p.m.

Atlanta at Washington, 6:05 p.m.

San Diego at Philadelphia, 6:05 p.m.

Baltimore at Toronto, 6:07 p.m.

Boston at Detroit, 6:10 p.m.

Pittsburgh at Cincinnati, 6:10 p.m.

Miami at Tampa Bay, 6:10 p.m.

Cleveland at Texas, 7:05 p.m.

Los Angeles Dodgers at Milwaukee, 7:10 p.m.

Minnesota at Kansas City, 7:15 p.m.

San Francisco at Oakland, 8:35 p.m.

Colorado at Arizona, 8:40 p.m.

Chicago White Sox at Seattle, 9 p.m.

Houston at Los Angeles Angels, 9:07 p.m.

Saturday, July 21 Schedule (All Times Central)

New York Mets at New York Yankees, 12:05 p.m.

St. Louis at Chicago Cubs, 12:05 p.m.

Baltimore at Toronto, 12:07 p.m.

Boston at Detroit, 5:10 p.m.

Miami at Tampa Bay, 5:10 p.m.

San Diego at Philadelphia, 6:05 p.m.

Atlanta at Washington, 6:05 p.m.

Pittsburgh at Cincinnati, 6:10 p.m.

Los Angeles Dodgers at Milwaukee, 6:10 p.m.

St. Louis at Chicago Cubs, 6:15 p.m.

Houston at Los Angeles Angels, 6:15 p.m.

Minnesota at Kansas City, 6:15 p.m.

Cleveland at Texas, 7:05 p.m.

Colorado at Arizona, 7:10 p.m.

San Francisco at Oakland, 8 p.m.

Chicago White Sox at Seattle, 9:10 p.m.

Sunday, July 22 Schedule (All Times Central)

Baltimore at Toronto, 12:07 p.m.

Boston at Detroit, 12:10 p.m.

Miami at Tampa Bay, 12:10 p.m.

Pittsburgh at Cincinnati, 12:10 p.m.

San Diego at Philadelphia, 12:35 p.m.

Atlanta at Washington, 12:35 p.m.

Los Angeles Dodgers at Milwaukee, 1:10 p.m.

Minnesota at Kansas City, 1:15 p.m.

St. Louis at Chicago Cubs, 1:20 p.m.

Cleveland at Texas, 2:05 p.m.

Houston at Los Angeles, 3 p.m.

San Francisco at Oakland, 3:05 p.m.

Chicago White Sox at Seattle, 3:10 p.m.

Colorado at Arizona, 3:10 p.m.

New York Mets at New York Yankees, 7 p.m.