Starlin Castro may have provided his 2nd best game since a memorable MLB debut today, as he finished just a triple shy of the cycle during the Chicago Cubs’ 6-5 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday afternoon from Wrigley Field.

The Cardinals tried to score immediately in the 1st after John Jay hit an opposite-field 1-out bloop double off Cubs starter Tom Gorzelanny.

Albert Pujols then drew a walk, which put runners on 1st & 2nd for Matt Holliday.

Holliday wrapped into a doubleplay, which ended the inning.

Chicago then took a quick lead in their half of the 1st, as Tyler Colvin provided his 2nd leadoff homer (15th of season) in as many days to give the Cubs a 1-0 lead.

St. Louis then rallied to take the lead in the 2nd after Ryan Ludwick drew a lead-off walk from Gorzelanny.

Yadier Molina was then robbed of a hit thanks to a great diving catch by Marlon Byrd in deep centerfield, but Brendan Ryan doubled to put runners on 2nd & 3rd for Blake Hawksworth.

Hawksworth struck out swinging, which brought up Tyler Greene.

Greene lined a 2-run single to right, which scored both Ludwick & Ryan to give the Cardinals a 2-1 lead.

With a runner on 2nd with 2 outs, Aaron Miles grounded out to Starlin Castro at shortstop to end the inning.

The Cubs then rallied to re-take the lead in the 3rd, as Tyler Colvin drew a 1-out walk from Hawksworth.

Starlin Castro connected for his first career homer at Wrigley Field, as his 2-run shot (3rd of season) to left center put Chicago up 3-2.

Derrek Lee then followed Castro’s homer with a single to center.

2 batters later, Marlon Byrd hit an opposite-field RBI double to score Lee from 1st base, which made it a 4-2 game.

Alfonso Soriano then flied out to Ryan Ludwick in right field to end the inning.

Chicago had a chance to add onto their lead in the 4th, as Ryan Theriot drew a 1-out walk against Hawksworth.

Hawksworth was then called for a balk by home plate umpire Tim Tschida during Tom Gorzelanny’s at-bat, as he flied out to Jon Jay in shallow centerfield.

That left it up to Tyler Colvin, who struck out swinging to end the scoring chance.

The Cardinals inched closer in the 5th, as Tyler Greene reached safely on a 1-out bunt single.

Aaron Miles then hit a long single to the warning track in right center, as that put runners on 1st & 3rd for Jon Jay.

Jay hit a sacrifice fly to Alfonso Soriano in left field, which scored Greene from 3rd & made it a 4-3 game.

The Cubs then rallied back in their half of the 5th, as Starlin Castro hit a lead-off single against Hawksworth.

2 batters later, Aramis Ramirez singled to center, which forced Cardinals manager Tony La Russa to go into his bullpen & call upon righthander Mitchell Boggs to face Marlon Byrd.

Byrd drew a walk, which loaded the bases with just 1 out for Alfonso Soriano.

Boggs threw a wild pitch during Soriano’s at-bat, as Castro & Ramirez both scored to give Chicago a 6-3 lead.

Soriano would eventually strike out swinging, which left it up to Geovany Soto.

Soto grounded out to Aaron Miles at 2nd base to end the inning.

St. Louis tried to rally in the 6th, as Matt Holliday reached thanks to an error by Ryan Theriot at 2nd, as a routine grounder skipped off his glove & into centerfield.

3 batters later, Brendan Ryan singled to put runners on 1st & 3rd with 2 outs for pinch-hitter Felipe Lopez.

Lopez drew a walk, which loaded the bases for Tyler Greene.

Greene flied out to Theriot in shallow right center to end the scoring threat.

The Cardinals crept closer in the 7th, as Aaron Miles & Jon Jay greeted Cubs reliever James Russell with back-to-back singles.

That sent manager Lou Piniella to the mound, as he chose righthander Andrew Cashner to face Albert Pujols as the potential game-tying run.

Pujols just missed tying it up, as Marlon Byrd caught it on the warning track in deep right center. However, it did score Miles from 3rd to make it a 6-4 game.

Chicago then tried to extend their lead in the 7th after Starlin Castro hit a lead-off double against St. Louis reliever Jason Motte.

Derrek Lee then flied out to Ryan Ludwick in right field, which brought up Aramis Ramirez.

Ramirez also flied out to Ludwick, which left it up to Marlon Byrd.

Byrd grounded out to Brendan Ryan at shortstop to end the inning.

St. Louis again rallied in the 8th, as Ryan Ludwick & Yadier Molina hit back-to-back singles against Cashner.

With runners on 1st & 2nd and nobody out, Brendan Ryan hit into what looked to be a routine doubleplay ball, but Ryan Theriot’s muff allowed him to reach safely.

That allowed Ludwick to score from 3rd, which made it a 6-5 game.

Randy Winn then flied out to Marlon Byrd in centerfield, but Molina couldn’t advance to 3rd on the play.

That left it up to Tyler Greene, who hit into a doubleplay to end the inning.

The Cardinals had one last chance to threaten in the 9th after Albert Pujols drew a 2-out walk from Cubs closer Carlos Marmol.

That brought up Matt Holliday as the potential go-ahead run, but he weakly popped up to Ryan Theriot at 2nd base to end the game.

Tom Gorzelanny (6-5) gets the win for Chicago after pitching 6 innings while allowing 3 runs on 7 hits, as he walked three while striking out three batters.

Blake Hawksworth (4-6) takes the loss for St. Louis after being charged for 6 runs (5 earned) on 7 hits in just 4 1/3 innings of work & gave up homers to both Starlin Castro & Tyler Colvin.

Carlos Marmol worked around a 2-out walk in the 9th inning to earn his 18th save of the season.

The Cubs can now go for a sweep of the 1st place Cardinals on Sunday evening at 7:05 PM cst, as Ryan Dempster (8-7, 3.70) goes against Chris Carpenter (11-3, 3.05).

Dempster has gotten 33 runs of support in his last 3 outings, as he’s 6-7 lifetime against the Cardinals with a 4.55 ERA in 16 starts against them.

Carpenter has allowed just 2 earned runs in his last 16 innings of work (both wins), but has struggled this month with a 4.68 ERA in 4 July starts.

Signing off for now,

Matt T for Cubshub.com