CHICAGO -- Yadier Molina and Paul DeJong homered on Craig Kimbrel's first two pitches in the ninth inning, and the St. Louis Cardinals handed the reeling Chicago Cubs their fifth straight loss with a wild 9-8 victory on Saturday.
Marcell Ozuna also connected as the NL Central-leading Cardinals (88-67) won for the fifth time in six games. Dexter Fowler had two hits and two RBI, and Paul Goldschmidt also drove in two runs.
Chicago (82-73) used pinch-hit homers by Ian Happ and Tony Kemp and a solo drive by rookie Nico Hoerner to carry an 8-7 lead into the ninth. It looked as if it was on its way to stopping a costly slide that pushed it out of playoff position -- the Cubs began the day two games back of Milwaukee for the second NL wild card.
But Kimbrel (0-4) was hit hard again in his first appearance since he gave up Matt Carpenter's 10th-inning homer in the Cubs' 5-4 loss Thursday night.
Molina jumped on Kimbrel's first pitch for his ninth homer, touching off a rollicking celebration in the Cardinals' dugout. Kimbrel looked stunned as the ball soared into the bleachers in left-center.
DeJong then belted an even deeper drive for his 28th homer, sending the party on the Cardinals' half of the field to another level.
Signed in early June, Kimbrel has allowed a career-high nine home runs in only 20 2/3 innings this year, and has blown three of 16 save chances. He permitted seven home runs last season in 62 1/3 innings with Boston.
John Gant (11-1) got the last out of the eighth for the win, and Carlos Martinez finished for his 23rd save. It's the first three-game win streak for St. Louis at Wrigley Field since June 20-22, 2016.
Kris Bryant led off the Chicago ninth with a walk before Martinez retired three in a row. Manager Joe Maddon sent Javier Baez up to hit for Kimbrel with two out, but the All-Star slugger struck out swinging on three pitches in his first plate appearance since he broke his left thumb.
Ozuna's two-run shot off Kyle Ryan gave St. Louis a 7-6 lead in the top half of the seventh, but Chicago rallied in the bottom half.
Pinch-hitting with Ben Zobrist on second after a one-out double, Kemp swung and missed at strike three, but Giovanny Gallegos was called for a balk. Given a second chance, Kemp hit a drive that drifted over the wall in center on a breezy afternoon.
The crowd of 40,071 roared as Kemp circled the bases with his first homer since he was acquired in a July 31 trade with Houston.
Happ's fifth career pinch-hit homer -- a two-run shot to the batter's eye in center -- tied it at 5 in the fourth. Hoerner led off the sixth with a drive to left off Ryan Helsley, putting Chicago ahead with his third homer in his 13th major league game.
NEARING THE END
The Cubs paid tribute to longtime broadcast partner WGN-TV with a pregame video. One member of WGN's crew for Cubs games threw out a ceremonial first pitch, surrounded by some of his veteran colleagues.
The Cubs will show their games on their own regional sports network beginning next year, ending their run on WGN after 72 seasons.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Cardinals: 2B Kolten Wong (strained left hamstring) was out of the starting lineup for the second straight game. "The good news is he's feeling good, he's moving around," manager Mike Shildt said. "We're just going to take it day by day. Encouraging, but no timetable at all." Wong got hurt during Thursday's 10-inning win over Chicago.
UP NEXT
Yu Darvish (6-7, 4.02 ERA) pitches for Chicago in what might be the final game of the year at Wrigley. The Japanese right-hander has 34 strikeouts in 18 innings over three September starts. Miles Mikolas (9-14, 4.29 ERA) goes for his 10th win for St. Louis.
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Jay Cohen can be reached at https://twitter.com/jcohenap
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