Cubs 7, Cardinals 0
CHICAGO -- Jake Arrieta tossed seven shutout innings while Nate Schierholtz drove in three runs as the Chicago Cubs snapped a four-game losing streak with a 7-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday afternoon.
Arrieta (1-0) allowed just two hits while striking out six and walking two in his second outing since being acquired from the Orioles on July 2.
Cardinals starter Jake Westbrook (7-8) allowed three runs in the first and settled down until the fifth when he gave up another. He worked 6 2/3 innings and allowed six earned runs on eight hits, while walking five and striking out two.
Schierholtz was 1-for-3 with an RBI single and a sacrifice while Welington Castillo, Darwin Barney and Donnie Murphy each had a pair of hits. Carlos Beltran went 2-for-4 for St. Louis.
Westbrook walked the first three batters in the first inning and gave up a two-run single to Schierholtz for a 2-0 Chicago lead with none out. Castillo hit into a double play for the inning's first outs, leaving Anthony Rizzo at third.
Rizzo scored on Murphy's base hit to left.
St. Louis put runners on first and third with two out in the second, but failed to score when Rob Johnson grounded to short to end the inning
Chicago added a single run with two out in the fifth as Westbrook's pitch count approached 90. Junior Lake reached on a fielder's choice, advanced to third on Rizzo's single to and scored on Schierholtz's sacrifice to right for a 4-0 lead.
Arrieta walked Westbrook and Matt Carpenter with one out in the sixth. Jon Jay grounded into a fielder's choice that forced Carpenter at second but pushed Westbrook to third for Matt Holliday.
But Arrieta struck out Holliday looking to end the threat.
Barney's double to left in the sixth drove home Murphy from first as Johnson couldn't hold onto a relay throw to the plate from shortstop Daniel Descalso.
Barney, who had collected his 100th career extra base hit, made it 6-0 when he scored on Arrieta's sacrifice grounder to third.
Westbrook returned for the seventh but left in favor of left-hander Sam Freeman with two out and Castillo at first and Rizzo at second. Back-to-back wild pitches allowed the runners to advance a base and allowed Rizzo to score for a 7-0 lead.
NOTES: Arietta was officially called up from Triple-A Iowa prior to Friday's game for his second stint with the club. He made a spot start in game two of a July 30 doubleheader against the Brewers on July 30. ... The Cubs, in turn, sent RHP Eduardo Sanchez to Iowa. He took the loss in Wednesday's 6-4 loss to the Reds, allowing two runs on a hit while walking three. ... The Cubs had been hitting .183 in their last five home games and endured three shutouts, including a franchise-record 33-inning scoreless streak. ... The Cardinals purchased the contract of infielder Kolten Wong from Triple-A Memphis late Thursday and promptly inserted him in Friday's lineup. Wong was hitting .303 with Memphis through 107 games, 11th in the Pacific Coast League. ... To make room for Wong, St. Louis optioned outfielder Adron Chambers to Memphis. ... Wong is the 18th rookie to appear with St. Louis this season, the most among Major League clubs. ... Holliday saw a 12-game hitting streak snapped as he went 0-for-4.
