Alec Burleson homers to cap 9-run first inning as Cardinals beat Cubs 11-3 in opener of doubleheader

ST. LOUIS -- — Alec Burleson hit a three-run homer to cap a nine-run first inning, Lance Lynn pitched six solid innings and the St. Louis Cardinals routed the Chicago Cubs 11-3 on Saturday in the opener of a split doubleheader.

St. Louis sent 12 men to the plate in the first, its biggest inning in more than a year, to provide more than enough support for Lynn (5-4). He allowed two runs on five hits and struck out six.

“You try not to let it change you too much,” Lynn said about pitching with a large lead. “You try to attack each hitter one at a time. You just have to make sure you don't let big innings happen, and you don't walk people. You just try to attack hitters and make them earn it.”

Seiya Suzuki and Patrick Wisdom each homered for the Cubs, who had won five straight. Hayden Wesneski (3-6) allowed 11 runs — four earned — on 10 hits in four innings.

“Weird inning,” Wesneski said about the first. “It's just one of those things where if one thing goes right, we're in a different game. The homer at the end was just the nail in the coffin kind of thing. I was grinding my butt off, and I left one pitch over the middle, and he hit it. It could have been a different game if that first inning goes away.”

Masyn Winn, Burleson, and Willson Contreras hit consecutive singles to begin the first. Wesneski then made a pair of throwing errors on weak grounders hit by Lars Nootbaar and Brendan Donovan. Cubs manager Craig Counsell challenged first base umpire Jonathan Parra’s safe call on Donovan’s grounder but the call stood.

Wesneski hit Michael Siani with the bases loaded to drive in another run. Winn followed with a two-run single before Burleson hit his 16th home run of the season to give St. Louis a 9-1 lead.

“Masyn was seeing the ball well early,” Burleson said. “You just want to keep the line moving, and that's what Masyn did. We had guys do that throughout that inning, just keep it moving, get to the next guy. I obviously got up there and put a good swing on it but you just want to keep the line moving when guys are rolling like that.”

The nine runs scored were the most for the Cardinals in a single inning since scoring 10 runs in the eighth against Counsell’s Milwaukee Brewers on May 15, 2023.

“They sniffed out hits, and they were able to get it,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “And that just continues to add pressure on that defense. It extends that inning and allows you to hit that homer and that single up the middle and do some of the other things. So not giving in mentally when a bat doesn’t go your way and good teams take advantage of the other side when they make mistakes. We were able to do that today.”

Cubs infielder David Bote tossed a scoreless eighth inning in his first career pitching appearance.

ROSTER MOVE

Cardinals: Recalled RHP Kyle Leahy from Triple-A Memphis to serve as the 27th man in the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cubs: Placed LHP Luke Little (left shoulder strain) on the 15-day injured list and recalled RHP Ethan Roberts from Triple-A Iowa. RHP Javier Assad (right forearm strain) was activated off the injured list and is serving as the 27th man in the second game of the doubleheader.

Cardinals: Siani departed the game with a left elbow contusion at the end of the third inning with a left elbow contusion. ... RHP Riley O’Brien (right forearm flexor strain) is scheduled to throw a 20-25 pitch live batting practice session with Double-A Springfield.

UP NEXT

The Cardinals will send RHP Kyle Gibson (7-3, 3.96 ERA) to the mound to face Assad (4-3, 3.04 ERA) in Saturday’s nightcap.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb