ST. LOUIS (Interstat) — The Chicago Cubs pounded out 17 hits and built an early seven-run lead Tuesday night, defeating the St. Louis Cardinals 10-2 at Busch Stadium III before 29,097 fans in a 2-hour, 59-minute game.

Colin Rea allowed one run over six innings to earn his eighth win against seven losses, and the Cubs improved to 61-46, moving a season-high 15 games above .500. St. Louis fell to 53-54, losing its second straight to Chicago.

The Cubs jumped on Cardinals starter Michael McGreevy from the start. Seiya Suzuki singled with one out in the first inning, and Alex Bregman followed with a ground-rule double to right-center field, putting runners at second and third. Ian Happ then doubled down the right-field line, driving in both runners to give Chicago a 2-0 lead.

The Cubs broke the game open in the second inning. Michael Conforto led off with a single, and Carson Kelly walked. After Pedro Ramírez grounded out, Pete Crow-Armstrong lifted a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Conforto. Suzuki doubled to left, scoring Kelly, and Michael Busch singled to right, plating Suzuki. Alex Bregman singled, and after Happ walked to load the bases, Nico Hoerner singled to right, driving in Busch and Bregman. By the time Conforto ended the inning with a flyout, Chicago led 7-0.

McGreevy, who fell to 4-9, allowed seven runs on eight hits and three walks over two innings. He struck out three.

St. Louis got on the board in the fourth inning. Alec Burleson walked and moved to third on singles by Lars Nootbaar and Masyn Winn. Nathan Church hit a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Burleson and cutting the deficit to 7-1.

The Cubs answered in the fifth. Hoerner walked, stole second, and scored on a single by Pedro Ramírez, making it 8-1.

Chicago added a run in the eighth. Ramírez led off with a ground-rule double and scored on Suzuki’s single to center, extending the lead to 9-1.

The Cubs capped their scoring in the ninth. Happ doubled to center, moved to third on a groundout, and scored on a single by Carson Kelly, making it 10-1.

St. Louis mounted a small threat in the bottom of the ninth. Nootbaar walked, and Masyn Winn hit a ground-rule double down the left-field line, scoring Nootbaar. But Cubs reliever Tyler Ferguson retired the next three batters to seal the win. Ferguson pitched a scoreless eighth inning, allowing no hits.

Bregman finished 3-for-5 with a double and two runs scored. Suzuki went 3-for-5 with a double, two runs batted in and two runs. Happ doubled twice, drove in two runs and scored two. Ramírez was 3-for-5 with a double, an RBI and a run. Conforto had two hits in four at-bats. Kelly drove in a run and reached base twice. Busch had one hit and one RBI. Hoerner drove in two runs. Justin Dean singled in a pinch-hit appearance.

For the Cardinals, Winn doubled and drove in a run. Nathan Church had an RBI. Jordan Walker, Lars Nootbaar and Iván Herrera each had one hit. St. Louis managed only seven hits in the game.

The Cubs have now won two straight in this four-game series, following a 7-3 victory Monday. The win also avenged a 17-1 loss to St. Louis on July 3 and a 3-0 defeat on July 4. Chicago has won four of its last five meetings with St. Louis.

The Cubs continue their road trip Wednesday with the third game of the series before heading home for a six-game homestand against the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers. St. Louis wraps up the series Thursday before embarking on a road trip to Toronto and New York.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Chicago Cubs 6, St. Louis Cardinals 3. Interstat’s ELO system had given the Cubs a 54.90 percent probability to win. Chicago was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5. The total score of 12 went under the over-under line of 9.