Cardinals lose three out of four to the rival Cubs

CHICAGO, Ill. (KMIZ)

The St. Louis Cardinals have struggled to find their grove in the second half of the Major League Baseball season, so far. On Sunday, STL lost 6-2 to the rival Cubs, which lost the series overall and dropped the club to 57-55 on the year.

Since the All-Star Break, the birds on the bat have lost nine out of the club's last 16 games.

Sunday's loss in the series finale came courtesy of a rough outing from starter Miles Mikolas on the hill. In four innings, he let up four runs on eight hits, as Chicago snatched away St. Louis' early two-run lead.

Masyn Winn put the Cardinals on top first, in the third, with a two-run home run to center field, however, a sacrifice grounder from Dansby Swanson and a Mitch Tauchman score on a Mikolas balk tied the game in the fourth.

Then, just one inning later, Chicago took the lead and never looked back. A Michael Busch RBI single and Cody Bellinger sacrifice fly made it a 4-2 ball game in the fifth inning. In the sixth, Tauchman and Miguel Amaya poured salt on the wound with a solo home run each to make it a four-run Chicago lead.

St. Louis finished with just four hits on the night, compared to the Cubs' 11.

Up next - the Cardinals will host the New York Mets for one game at Busch Stadium on Monday, August 5. First pitch is set for 4:15 p.m.