ST. LOUIS -- When it comes to being a hitter, St. Louis rookie Michael Wacha would rather talk about his pitching. Wacha threw seven innings and drove in two runs with a single, helping the Cardinals to a 5-3 victory Thursday over the Chicago Cubs. The 6-foot-6 Wacha (3-3) had lost his last three decisions since an April 13 win over the Cubs. The 22-year-old right-hander allowed seven hits, including a homer, but did not walk a batter. He struck out five. "I was able to pound the strike zone down in the zone and it was pretty effective," Wacha said. "I kept them off-balance, which means its a pretty good day. Its definitely nice to go deep into a ballgame and get a win. It definitely gets your confidence going in the next start thats for sure." Trevor Rosenthal pitched 1 2-3 innings for his 11th save. Rosenthal, who blew a save Tuesday, inherited a one-out, bases-loaded situation and gave up a sacrifice fly, but closed out the inning and retired the side in the ninth. The Cubs have lost nine of their last 11 and are off to the worst start in 39 games (13-26) since 2002. Jason Hammel (4-2) gave up five runs on five hits and two walks in 5 1-3 innings, raising his ERA to 3.06. Hammel had six strikeouts. St. Louis scored four runs in the second inning on Wachas two-run single in between a run-scoring groundout by Yadier Molina and Matt Carpenters RBI double. It was Wachas first hit and RBIs of the season. "Its nice to finally have a batting average," Wacha said. St. Louis manager Mike Matheny noted it was a timely hit. "Mike was good and obviously getting that hit there to drive in a couple runs it was kind of a huge boost to us at that point," Matheny said. With two outs, Hammel might have escaped with little damage but he had to throw a strike on a 3-2 count to Wacha and the bases loaded. "I got behind Wacha with two wild ones," Hammel said. "I came in with a fastball and he hit it." Chicago got two runs back in the fourth on a home run just inside the left-field foul pole by Starlin Castro. He drove in No. 3 hitter Anthony Rizzo, who beat the St. Louis shift to the right side with his second bunt to the left side in two at-bats. Rizzo has three career bunt singles with the Cubs with one coming in his previous 285 games. "If theyre going to give me that, I might as well take it," Rizzo said. "We were able to cash in once. I almost make them pay twice for it. Wacha is a great pitcher but you get him on the stretch and try to get him off his game a little bit. "You know if teams are going to give me that, for the most part, Im going to take it every time." When Rizzo came to bat in the fifth and seventh, St. Louis did not shift. "Rizzo took advantage of the shift until they changed their defence on him," Chicago manager Rick Renteria said. "That led to our first two runs when Starlin drove the ball out of the ballpark. Hes really looking at the game from a lot of different angles. Think about it, youre down four runs and a solo home run is not going to do a whole lot for you." The Cardinals made it 5-2 when Molina lined a 3-2 pitch just inside the line in left for a one-out RBI single. Junior Lake hit a sacrifice fly for a run in the eighth, but Rosenthal got out the jam. St. Louis lost a challenge in the third when Matt Holliday was called out on a close play at first after hitting a grounder to shortstop. The time of the review was 2 minutes, 54 seconds. NOTES: Missouris new basketball coach Kim Anderson threw out the first pitch. "It was an honour to throw the first ball out," he said. "I was nervous out there, but its something I will never forget." ... The Cardinals announced the time for making up Wednesdays game with the Cubs that was rained out. It will be played at 1:15 p.m. Aug. 30 as part of a split doubleheader. The second game will start at 7:15 p.m. instead of 6:15 p.m. ... The Cardinals recalled 2B Kolten Wong on Wednesday from Triple-A Memphis and optioned infielder Greg Garcia back to the club. Wong was optioned April 27 after hitting .225 in 20 games. He hit .344 in 10 games at Memphis. He was not in the starting lineup as he was still battling the effects of a stomach virus. Cheap Blue Jackets Jerseys . Or maybe he already did. Clark hit his first homer, Wily Peralta pitched into the seventh inning, and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Miami Marlins 4-1 Wednesday night. Cheap Blue Jackets Jerseys China . Cory Batey and Brandon Vandenburg were each convicted on four charges of aggravated rape, one of attempted aggravated rape and two for aggravated sexual battery. Vandenburg was also found guilty of tampering with evidence as well as an unlawful photography charge. http://www.cheapbluejacketsjerseys.com/ .Y. - Islanders forward Anders Lee has been fined $2,286 by the NHL for elbowing St. Wholesale Blue Jackets Jerseys .com) - The collective hearts of Chicago Bulls fans sank on Friday night when Derrick Rose went down with a leg injury against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Cheap Adidas NHL Jerseys . Jamies number grades given are out of five, with five being the best mark. Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers (5) – He had good saves on Giroux, Akeson, and Hartnell tonight.Darts fan Paul Gascoigne has tipped Michael van Gerwen to be Phil Taylor’s biggest Premier League threat. The football legend enjoyed a night in Bournemouth watching the oches finest in action, with Taylor confirming his spot at the top of the table and Van Gerwen winning twice.Gazza thinks that second-placed Van Gerwen is the only player capable of knocking Taylor off top spot. (MVG is) an unbelievable kid whos just come through and thrown darts like the way I played - hes got his heart on his sleeve! Paul Gascoigne If Phil plays the way he can do, I think no-one can stop him, Gascoigne told the PDC.But hes some player as well, Van Gerwen, an unbelievable kid whos just come through and thrown darts like the way I played - hes got his heart on his sleeve. Highlights as Phil Taylor beat Robert Thornton in Bournemouth Gascoigne remembered losing a one-sided darts match to Taylor many years ago in Stoke pub that turned him into a lifelong fan.ddddddddddddHe said: Phil beat me on his knees - it was unbelievable! The things hes achieved are unbelievable. Darts is massive now and its all down to Phil, and what Mr Hearn has done.Its a great sport and its taken off all around the world. Everywhere they go its a full house, which is incredible. I missed the one last year and said Id definitely come this year - I love my darts.Watch Premier League Darts next Thursday, live on Sky Sports 1 HD at 7pm. 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