The St. Louis Cardinals jumped on Jon Lester for two home runs in the top of the first inning, and Carlos Martinez made them hold up as the Cardinals (93-56) defeated the Chicago Cubs (87-62) 4-3 Sunday afternoon to avoid a sweep in Wrigley Field. 

Tommy Pham started the scoring with a no-doubt solo bomb (5) that landed on Waveland Avenue. 

One out later, Stephen Piscotty smacked a two-run shot (5) into the left-field bleachers to extend the Cardinals' lead to 3-0 (video). Jhonny Peralta was on first and scored on the home run.

Peralta added the Cardinals' fourth run in the top of the third by singling home Matt Carpenter, who led off with a double. 

The Cubs came back with two runs in the bottom of the third. With the bases loaded and two outs, Anthony Rizzo grounded one up the middle and off Peralta's glove into center field (video). Lester and Dexter Fowler scored on the hit. Lester reached on only his third hit of the season -- and third of his career (all against St. Louis). Fowler and Chris Coghlan walked. Martinez then got out of the mess by striking out Kris Bryant with two men on to retire the side.

The Cubs loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the eighth but got only one run when Tommy La Stella walked. The next hitter, Addison Russell, made a bid for a game-tying sacrifice fly, but Cardinals right fielder Jayson Heyward charged, made the catch, and gunned down Rizzo at the plate.

It took a perfect throw to get Rizzo, and Heyward made it. Trevor Rosenthal then came in to strike out Miguel Montero to end the threat.

The Cubs got a man on in the ninth, but Tony Cruz cut down pinch runner Quintin Berry attempting to steal second to remove the tying run from the base paths.

Martinez (W: 14-7, 3.01) pitched 6 2/3 innings, allowing two earned runs on four hits. He walked three and struck out six. Four relievers worked through the eighth, and Rosenthal (S: 46) picked up a four-out save.

Lester (L: 10-11, 3.46) worked six innings, allowing four runs on six hits (two home runs) while walking three and fanning seven. After going nearly the entire season with three pick-off attempts (two of them for errors), Lester picked off his second man in as many starts when he got Peralta in the top of the third. 

With the win, the Cardinals pushed the Cubs back to six games behind them in the National League Central division race. The Cubs also lost a game to the Pittsburgh Pirates in the race for the top N.L. Wild Card position as Pittsburgh defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-3 in Los Angeles. The Cubs now trail Pittsburgh by two games with 13 left for each team.

On Monday, the Cardinals return to St. Louis to begin a three-game series with the Cincinnati Reds. The Cubs, meanwhile, stay home to host the Milwaukee Brewers for three. The Pirates will play their next four games in Denver against the Colorado Rockies Monday through Thursday.

The Cubs and Pirates will meet for a crucial weekend series in Wrigley Field starting Friday, September 25, that will very likely determine which team gets the home field advantage in the N.L Wild Card game.