Watch: Cubs take down Cardinals in NL Central showdown

Both sides were making decent contact with the ball in the first few innings, but couldn’t get much going in terms of scoring.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Alec Burleson put the Cardinals on the board first with an RBI single. This lead didn’t last long as Michael Bush tied it up with his own RBI single in the top of the fifth.

St. Louis continued to stay cold on offense, while the Cubs were able to marginally improve. Nico Hoerner pushed Chicago ahead with an RBI single in the top of the sixth, just before Michael Busch made it a 3-1 game with an RBI sac fly.

After the Cardinals came up empty again, Pete Crow-Armstrong blasted a 444′ solo home run in the eighth inning to make it a 4-1 game in favor of Chicago.

As St. Louis’ pitching rotation faltered, Ben Brown put in a solid performance at the mound for the Cubs.

In the top of the final inning, Chicago scored again on a walk with the bases loaded before Crow-Armstrong sent in another runner with a line drive single.

By the time St. Louis took the plate in the bottom of the ninth, Chicago led 6-1. The Cardinals managed to get on base with two singles, but failed to capitalize.

The two squads will face off again on Sunday to decide the winner of the weekend series.