The St Louis Cardinals belted four home runs off Cubs starting pitcher Ben Brown, powering their way to an 8-2 win over the NL Central leaders on Monday, June 23 at Busch Stadium.

Each of the long bombs brought in two runs apiece, with Lars Nootbaar providing the first jolt in the fourth inning. After the Cubs’ Carson Kelly singled in Pete Crow-Armstrong, Brendan Donovan and Alec Burleson responded in the home half of the fifth inning with their shots to right field. Nolan Gorman’s home run in the sixth ended the night for Brown, whom the Cardinals tagged for all eight runs on nine hits and two walks, while striking out three times. Matthew Liberatore went seven innings, allowing two runs on six hits with one walk, while striking out five, to get his fifth win of the year.

The Cubs’ second run came off a sacrifice fly from Justin Turner in the seventh. The Cardinals came close to having a fifth home run in the game, but Donovan’s sharp fly ball to center field was nabbed at the wall by a jumping Crow-Armstrong for the last out of the sixth inning.

The Cardinals (43-36) are back in a tie for second in the NL Central with Milwaukee, sitting 3.5 games behind the Cubs. The two are also tied for the third wild card spot, a half-game ahead of San Diego. Game two of the series is Tuesday at 6:45 p.m., with Michael McGreevy getting the start for the Cardinals.

The Royals were idle Monday as they returned home from the West Coast. A three-game series starts Tuesday night at Kauffman Stadium against the Tampa Bay Rays. Kris Bubic will have the start for the Royals, with first pitch at 6:40 p.m. Pregame coverage begins at 6 p.m. on KMMO-FM 102.9.