Alec Burleson hits a home run to end the first inning with 9 runs as the Cardinals beat the Cubs 11-3 in the opener of the doubleheader

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Alec Burleson hit a three-run home run to end a nine-run first inning, Lance Lynn pitched six solid innings and the St. Louis Cardinals beat 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 give Lynn (5-4) plenty of support. He allowed two runs on five hits and struck out six.

Seiya Suzuki and Patrick Wisdom both homered for the Cubs, who had won five in a row. Hayden Wesneski allowed 11 runs — four earned — on 10 hits in four innings.

Masyn Winn, Burleson and Willson Contreras hit consecutive singles to start the first. Wesneski then made a pair of throwing errors on weak grounders 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 homer of the season to give St. Louis a 9-1 lead.

St. Louis Cardinals’ Masyn Winn hits a two-run single during the first inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs on Saturday, July 13, 2024, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Jeff Roberson

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

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

ROSTER MOVEMENT

Cardinals: RHP Kyle Leahy was recalled from Triple-A Memphis to serve as the 27th man in Game 2 of Saturday’s doubleheader.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cubs: Placed LHP Luke Little (left shoulder injury) on the 15-day injured list and recalled RHP Ethan Roberts from Triple-A Iowa. RHP Javier Assad (right forearm injury) was activated from the injured list and will serve as the 27th man for Game 2 of the doubleheader.

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

NEXT ONE

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

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