CHICAGO — Matt Carpenter belted a grand slam and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Cubs 9-3 in Game 1 of a doubleheader on Wednesday, holding Chicago to two hits even though a shaky Jack Flaherty couldn’t make it out of the second inning.
Flaherty gave up a leadoff homer to Ian Happ and recorded just five outs in his first start since a season-opening win over Pittsburgh.
The right-hander struggled to locate his fastball and issued what he described as “pretty out-of-character walks.” But he got plenty of help.
Carpenter drove a rope to center in the first against Alec Mills (2-2) for his second career grand slam. Tommy Edman had three hits and Kolten Wong scored four runs.
Tyler Webb (1-1) got four outs to earn the win in relief.