ST. LOUIS -- Anthony Rizzo homered with three RBIs and Jon Lester had a strong outing for the Chicago Cubs, who ended the St. Louis Cardinals' eight-game winning streak and their own four-game skid with a 6-5 victory on Wednesday night.

Jhonny Peralta hit a 447-foot homer and Yadier Molina had two hits and two RBIs for the Cardinals, who erased deficits of five and three runs the first two games of the four-game series but couldn't quite make up a three-run, fifth-inning deficit. Lance Lynn (1-3) allowed five runs in six innings.

St. Louis put runners on the corners with one out in the ninth before Hector Rondon escaped for his sixth save in seven chances.

The Cardinals entered a major league-best 20-6, the best start for the franchise since 1900, with a 6 1/2-game lead in the NL Central. They're 13-3 at home.

Lester (2-2) left leading 5-4 after seven innings but only one of the runs was earned against the team he dominated in St. Louis in Game 5 of the 2013 World Series. The pitcher's fielding error covering first led to a run in the second and second baseman Addison Russell missed a liner for a fielding error that led to two more runs in the sixth.

Rizzo hit his fifth homer, and third in five games, in the third and added a two-run double in the fifth. He also homered in the series opener Monday and had three hits and a walk on Tuesday.

Two-out RBI singles by Molina and Pete Kozma cut the deficit to 5-4 in the sixth and pinch-hitter Kolten Wong's RBI single off Pedro Strop in the eighth again shaved it to 6-5.

Molina has 82 RBIs against the Cubs, most against any opponent.

Up next

Cubs: Jake Arrieta (3-2, 2.84) makes his sixth start of the year, all vs. NL Central opponents, and is 3-0 with an 0.74 ERA in six career starts against St. Louis. He gave up a season-high four runs in his last start.

Cardinals: John Lackey (1-1, 3.69) makes his second straight start in a day game.

Trainer's room

Cubs: Manager Joe Maddon said Junior Lake was demoted to Triple-A Iowa to get regular playing time. He believes call-up Matt Szczur was better equipped to play off the bench.

Cardinals: Two potential rotation replacements for Adam Wainwright, lefties Marco Gonzales and Jaime Garcia, begin rehab assignments from shoulder injuries this weekend with Triple-A Memphis.