Cards miss out on chance to gain game

ST. LOUIS -- Randy Wells got a happy homecoming. Adam Wainwright trudged off the mound believing he deserved better.

Wells allowed five hits over eight innings and had two hits and two RBIs to help the Chicago Cubs deny Wainwright's bid for a 19th win in a 7-2 victory over the slumping St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday night.

"I came here a lot when I was a kid. This was my team, it's no secret," said Wells, who is from nearby Belleville, Ill. "Wainwright's tough. You never go in thinking you're going to get two knocks and two RBIs off him. You know, I'll take it."

Xavier Nady had three hits and three RBIs and Darwin Barney had three hits and an RBI in a 15-hit attack for the Cubs, who have outscored St. Louis 12-3 while taking the first two games of a three-game series. The Cardinals remained seven games behind NL Central-leading Cincinnati with 19 games to go.

"The season has not gone how we thought it was going to go," Wainwright said. "But it's not over yet."

Wainwright has lost five of his last six starts, a fade that has coincided with the team's late-season slump. He thought bad luck was a major factor with most of the damage on bloopers and bleeders finding holes in all but one of the losses.

"It's tough to explain, really," Wainwright said. "I didn't make very many bad pitches. It's a crazy game, man."

Chicago's Nos. 7, 8 and 9 hitters totaled seven hits and three RBIs.

"Unbelievable," Cubs interim manager Mike Quade said. "We had some big hits all over the place."

The Cardinals played without three-time NL MVP Albert Pujols and managed six hits, including an RBI double by Matt Holliday in the fourth and Colby Rasmus' 22nd homer in the ninth off James Russell.

Pujols missed only his second game of the season after getting a cortisone injection Monday for left elbow tendinitis. Pujols said before the game that he anticipated he would be back in the lineup today.

Pitching in Busch Stadium was a definite boost for Wells (7-13), who also said his changeup was much improved from recent outings. The right-hander won for only the second time in 10 starts, striking out five with no walks.

"Pitching is all about confidence," Wells said. "I've gone through some stretches where I haven't had a whole lot of confidence. I was able to keep guys off balance and attack the zone."

He had been 1-5 with a 5.88 ERA in nine starts dating to July 28. Wells has nine hits this season, including three two-hit games, and is batting .188 (9 for 48) with three RBIs.

Wainwright, who had entered with a major league-leading 1.52 home ERA, was tagged for 12 hits -- matching his career worst -- and five runs in eight innings. Wainwright fell to 11-3 at home.

The right-hander had been 4-0 with a 2.27 ERA in six starts the last two seasons against Chicago, and lost for the first time since Sept. 14, 2007, in St. Louis.

Wainwright struck out the side in the second but not before giving up two-out RBI singles to Barney and Wells. Marlon Byrd doubled with one out and scored on another two-out hit by Nady in the third.

The Cubs opened the fourth with three straight hits including Wells' run-scoring single, and Sikeston native Blake DeWitt added an RBI single for a 5-1 lead. DeWitt finished the game 1 for 5 with the one RBI.