Chicago Cubs vs St. Louis Cardinals

St. Louis Cardinals Yadier Molina tries to calm starting pitcher Lance Lynn in the third inning against the Chicago Cubs at Busch Stadium in St. Louis on September 7, 2015. Lynn would leave later in the inning giving up seven runs as Chicago goes on to win 9-0. Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI

The ankle of Cardinals starting pitcher Lance Lynn may have felt fine, but skipping a few days in the rotation certainly hurt his command.  Starting with a leadoff homer from Dexter Fowler, it went downhill fast for the Lynn as the Chicago Cubs jumped out to early lead and coasted to a 9-0 win on Monday afternoon.

Fowler also hit a two-run double as the Cubs scored eight in the first three innings.  Lynn was charged with six of those and Maness was on the hook for the other after he served up a three-run homer to Addison Russell in a five run, third inning.

The NL Central-leading Cardinals maintained a 5 1/2-game lead over Pittsburgh, which lost 3-1 to Cincinnati. The Cubs are 7 1/2 games back.  With the game out of control, Mike Matheny cleared the bench, using 22 players and pitchers combined as the team returned to the stadium on short rest following their Sunday night loss to Pittsburgh.