CHICAGO (Interstat) — Andre Pallante pitched 5 2/3 innings of shutout baseball, and the St. Louis Cardinals erupted for 17 runs on 17 hits Friday afternoon to rout the Chicago Cubs 17-1 at Wrigley Field.

The victory moved the Cardinals to 46-39 on the season and snapped a two-game losing streak. The Cubs, who had won three straight, fell to 49-39.

Pallante, who entered with a 9-5 record, allowed five hits and no earned runs while striking out two. He threw 59 strikes among his 89 pitches, with 15 balls put in play. The right-hander bounced back from a rough outing June 27 when he gave up five earned runs in 6 2/3 innings against Miami. Pallante improved to 10-5 and earned his second win in three decisions.

St. Louis gave him all the support he needed in the second inning. With one out, Jose Fermin doubled to left field. Blaze Jordan singled, and Nathan Church followed with a three-run homer to right field, his eighth of the season, giving the Cardinals a 3-0 lead.

The Cardinals added three more runs in the third. Ivan Herrera singled, and Jordan Walker doubled. Nelson Velazquez drove in Herrera with a sacrifice fly. After a groundout, Masyn Winn singled to score Walker, and Fermin doubled to bring home Winn, making it 6-0.

The breakout came in the fourth inning. After two quick outs, the Cardinals loaded the bases on walks to Herrera, Walker and Velazquez. Alec Burleson singled to right field, scoring Herrera and Walker. Then Winn crushed a three-run homer to left-center field, his fourth of the year, and the lead ballooned to 11-0.

St. Louis kept pouring it on in the fifth. Jordan singled, and after a strikeout and a lineout, Herrera singled. Walker was hit by a pitch, and Velazquez walked to force in a run. Burleson followed with a two-run single, stretching the lead to 14-0.

The Cardinals scored two more in the sixth. Jordan led off with a single, Church singled, and JJ Wetherholt was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Herrera singled to center, scoring Jordan and Church. St. Louis added a final run in the seventh when Bryan Torres, pinch-hitting for Alec Burleson, hit a solo homer to right, his fourth of the season.

The Cubs avoided the shutout in the bottom of the seventh. Pedro Ramirez tripled to right field, and Alex Bregman doubled to left, scoring Ramirez for the only Cubs run. That came off Max Rajcic, who relieved Pallante. Rajcic pitched 2 1/3 innings, allowing two hits and one earned run while striking out three.

Cubs starter David Peterson lasted only 2 2/3 innings, charged with six runs on seven hits. He walked one and struck out two, falling to 4-7. The Cubs used five relievers, including Drew Pomeranz and Gavin Hollowell, who each tossed a scoreless inning.

Cardinals catcher Ivan Herrera finished 3 for 4 with two RBIs and a walk. Nathan Church went 2 for 5 with a home run and three RBIs. Masyn Winn went 2 for 4 with the home run and four RBIs. Alec Burleson contributed two hits and four RBIs. Blaze Jordan had three hits and scored three times. Jose Fermin doubled twice.

For the Cubs, Alex Bregman doubled and drove in the only run. Nico Hoerner doubled. Pete Crow-Armstrong doubled. Michael Busch singled. Carson Kelly singled. Pedro Ramirez tripled and scored.

The most important part of the game occurred in the fourth inning when St. Louis broke open a 6-0 game with five runs, capped by Masyn Winn’s three-run homer. That inning effectively ended any competitive hope for the Cubs, as the Cardinals sent nine men to the plate and chased reliever Gavin Stone, who had entered in the third. After that frame, the Cardinals led by 11 runs and never looked back.

Defensively, the Cardinals played error-free baseball until a fielding error by first baseman Alec Burleson in the fourth inning, but it did not lead to any runs. The Cubs committed one error, a missed catch error by first baseman Michael Busch in the first inning that did not result in a run.

Time of game was 2 hours, 57 minutes. Attendance was 39,440.

The Cardinals began their four-game series in Chicago on the heels of a 11-5 win at Atlanta on Thursday. The Cubs came off a 23-3 blowout victory over San Diego on Wednesday. The two teams had split a three-game series in St. Louis from May 29-31, with the Cardinals winning two of three.

St. Louis continues its series at Wrigley Field on Saturday, then returns home to face Milwaukee on Monday. The Cubs host the Cardinals again Saturday and Sunday before traveling to Baltimore for a three-game set beginning Tuesday.

Interstat’s game simulator projected a final score of Chicago Cubs 7, St. Louis Cardinals 4. Interstat’s ELO system gave the Cubs a 60.20 percent probability to win. The Cubs had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5. The total score of 18 went under the over/under line of 10.5.