CHICAGO — The kids can hit.
Rookies Tyler Colvin and Starlin Castro each hit home runs to back Tom Gorzelanny and lead the Cubs to a 6-5 victory on Saturday that pulled them within nine games of the first-place Cardinals in the National League Central.
Gorzelanny (6-5) benefited from the power surge in improving to 4-0 since returning to the rotation. In his last five outings, the lefty has given up nine earned runs over 28 2/3 innings for a 2.83 ERA.
Colvin got things started with his second leadoff homer in as many games. He's the first Cubs leadoff man to connect in consecutive games since Alfonso Soriano did so May 13-14, 2008, against San Diego. Colvin now has 15 for the season, the most home runs by a left-handed-hitting Cubs rookie since Mel Hall belted 17 in 1983. The team mark is 25, set by Hall of Famer Billy Williams in 1961.
The Cardinals went ahead, 2-1, on Tyler Greene's two-run single in the second. Colvin walked with one out in the third and Castro followed with his third homer off the first pitch from Blake Hawksworth (4-6). Castro finished with three hits and missed hitting for the cycle by a triple. Marlon Byrd added a RBI double to put the Cubs ahead, 4-2.
St. Louis closed to 4-3 in the fifth on Jon Jay's sacrifice fly. But the Cubs loaded the bases with one out in their half against Mitchell Boggs, who bounced the ball in on a 2-0 pitch to Soriano. One run scored on the wild pitch and another tallied on catcher Yadier Molina's errant throw.
The kids can also pitch. The at-bat of the game came in the St. Louis seventh as rookie Andrew Cashner faced Albert Pujols with two on and none out, firing three straight 100 mph fastballs after the count reached 3-2. Pujols fouled the first two off and ended up with a sacrifice fly.
An error by second baseman Ryan Theriot in the eighth led to another St. Louis run.