Joc Pederson homered on the first pitch of the game, Ian Happ got two hits during an eight-run burst in the eighth inning and the Chicago Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals 12-3 Friday night.
Pederson led off with a home run for the 22nd time in his career.
Kyle Hendricks (4-4) pitched effectively into the seventh inning.
Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo and David Bote each drove in two runs.
Reliever Ryan Helsley (3-2) took the loss.
Cardinals starter Carlos Martínez pitched six innings, giving up two runs and hitting three batters. He was activated from the 10-day injured list earlier Friday after missing eight games with a sprained right ankle.
St. Louis RHP Miles Mikolas will be making his 2021 debut Saturday, 5:20 with the pregame and the first pitch at 6:15 on KIRX.